Murder convict cannot be sentenced to punishment less than life imprisonment: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday said there cannot be any sentence less than imprisonment for life, if an accused is convicted for murder, an offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and Krishna Murari said, “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 bench noted that punishment for murder under Section 302 IPC shall be death or imprisonment for life and fine, therefore, minimum sentence would be imprisonment for life and fine.

The top court judgment came on an appeal by Madhya Pradesh government challenging the Madhya Pradesh High Court judgment, where the court partly allowed the appeal preferred by the respondent - accused Nandu alias Nandua and reduced the sentence from life imprisonment to the sentence already undertone while maintaining his conviction for the offences under Sections 147, 148, 323 and 302/34 of the IPC.

The top court noted that the high court passed the judgment and order reducing the sentence, the period of sentence undergone by the accused was approximately seven years and ten months.

“Though the High Court has maintained the conviction of the respondent –accused for the offence under Section 302 IPC, but the High Court has reduced the sentence to already undergone, i.e., seven years and ten months, we are of the firm view that the same is impermissible and unsustainable,” it said.

Published on: Saturday, September 03, 2022, 09:59 AM IST