Reporting By: Amit Kashyap
The Supreme Court bench of Justices MR Shah and Krishna Murari in The State of Madhya Pradesh vs Nandu @ Nandua, CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1356 OF 2022 reiterated that for the offence of murder, giving any punishment less than a life sentence would be contrary to Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Hon’ble bench ruled that a Madhya Pradesh High Court order reducing a life sentence in a murder case to the the period already undergone in prison, was unsustainable.
“The punishment for murder under Section 302 IPC shall be death or imprisonment for life and fine. Therefore, the minimum sentence provided for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC would be imprisonment for life and fine. There cannot be any sentence/punishment less than imprisonment for life, if an accused is convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC. Any punishment less than the imprisonment for life for the offence punishable under Section 302 would be contrary to Section 302 IPC,” the Court said.
The top court was hearing an appeal against a 2019 order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which confirmed a 1995 trial court conviction for murder but reduced the punishment.
The High Court had given the accused the benefit of the right to private defence, and reduced the sentence to the period already undergone behind bars, which at the time was seven years and ten months.
The State then moved the present appeal.
Deputy Advocate General Ankita Chaudhary submitted that the order under challenge was erroneous and contrary to Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the IPC.
The Court accepted the same, noting that the High Court had specifically maintained the conviction of the accused for murder but reduced the sentence to period already undergone.
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Judgements In Criminal Law 