After 25-Year Case, P&H HC Upholds Attempted-Murder Conviction but Cuts First-Time Offender’s 7-Year Sentence to Time Served

The appellant was convicted under Section 307 IPC for an assault on Hawa Singh arising from a dispute over unloading fertilizer.

The Sessions Court sentenced him to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹5,000, with six months’ further rigorous imprisonment in default of payment.

Although the appeal initially challenged the conviction and sentence, counsel stated that the appellant was no longer contesting the conviction and sought reduction of sentence.

He had already undergone two years, seven months and twenty-two days’ imprisonment.

Section 307 IPC criminalizes an act done with the intention or knowledge, and in circumstances, that would make the act murder if it caused death.

The Court also considered its appellate jurisdiction to modify sentence and the fact that no minimum sentence was prescribed for the offence.

In assessing the appropriate sentence, it considered the circumstances of the offence, the period already served, the appellant’s prior record, the passage of time, and the need to ensure that the sentence met the ends of justice.

No precedent was cited.

The Court reviewed the trial record and found the prosecution evidence consistent and sufficient to establish the appellant’s guilt under Section 307 IPC; it therefore found no basis to disturb the conviction.

On sentence, the Court considered that the incident occurred about twenty-five years earlier, the appellant had undergone more than two years and seven months of imprisonment, this was his first offence, he had not been prosecuted for another offence in the intervening period, and the statute prescribed no minimum sentence.

It also noted his age and the prolonged litigation, concluding that the sentence already served was adequate.

The appeal was partly allowed. The sentence was modified and reduced to the period already undergone by the appellant.