In a recent judgment, the Karnataka High Court has made a significant modification to a murder convict's sentence, changing it from "imprisonment till his last breath" to "life imprisonment" with the possibility of remission after 14 years. The court's decision came as a result of an appeal filed by the convict, challenging the severity of the original sentence.
The case involved two appeals filed before the High Court by Harish and Lokesh, the first and third accused in the murder of D R Kumar. The incident occurred when Harish, who was in love with Radha, Kumar's wife, plotted to murder him. On February 16, 2012, Harish attacked Kumar with a rod, causing fatal injuries, and later, with the help of his brother Lokesh, buried the body in a vacant land after transporting it in a goods rickshaw.
In 2017, Harish, Radha, and Lokesh were convicted by a sessions court in Hassan. Harish was sentenced to "imprisonment till his last breath" and was also fined Rs 50,000 under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Additionally, he was sentenced under Section 120(B) and Section 201 of the IPC and ordered to pay Rs 3 lakh to Kumar's two children.
The High Court bench of Justices K Somashekar and Rajesh Rai K upheld Harish's conviction but questioned the trial court's sentence. The court referred to a previous judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Union of India vs V Sriharan alias Murugan and others, which stated that a "special category sentence" like "imprisonment till his last breath" can only be imposed by the High Court or Supreme Court, not by a trial court.
The High Court emphasized the three tests mandated by the Supreme Court for such cases: crime test, criminal test, and rarest rare test. While the crime and criminal tests were satisfied against Harish, the rarest rare test was not proven by the prosecution. As a result, the High Court concluded that the case did not fall under the category of "rarest of the rare," and thus, the sentence had to be modified to "life imprisonment."
Furthermore, the court set aside all charges against Lokesh, stating that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove his guilt, and his conviction was based solely on the voluntary statement of the co-accused, Harish.
The High Court's judgment was delivered by a division bench after hearing the appeals of the first and third convicts. The second convict, Radha, did not file an appeal. Harish's bail and surety bond were cancelled, and he was given a two-week period to surrender before the trial court to begin serving his life imprisonment sentence with the possibility of remission after 14 years.
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