P&H HC Cuts Sentences Of Three Men Convicted In 2002 Amritsar Assault To Time Served After 24 Years Of Litigation

On 12 August 2002, Harinder Singh alleged that the appellants and others attacked him with Rambi weapons after an earlier altercation, causing injuries; an FIR was registered under Sections 307, 506, 148 and 149 IPC.

The trial court convicted the appellants and imposed sentences under Sections 148, 307, 324 and 325 read with Section 149 IPC, directing that the sentences run concurrently.

In appeal, the appellants expressly confined their challenge to sentence. They relied on the time elapsed, their periods of imprisonment already served, and their conduct since the incident.

The State opposed sentence reduction.

The convictions concerned offences under Sections 148, 307, 324 and 325, including liability under Section 149 IPC.

The Court applied its appellate jurisdiction to review the conviction and the quantum of sentence.

In assessing sentence, it considered the elapsed time since the incident, the appellants’ periods of custody, their subsequent record, and their ages; it cited no precedent or separate sentencing doctrine.

Although the appellants did not press their challenge to conviction, the Court reviewed the record and found the prosecution evidence consistent and sufficient to sustain the trial court’s findings, leaving no basis to interfere with conviction.

On sentence, it considered that approximately 24 years had passed since the incident, the appellants had already served substantial periods of imprisonment, none had been prosecuted for another offence during the intervening period, and they were approximately 41–43 years old.

In view of those circumstances, it found the sentences harsh and held that the periods already undergone were sufficient to meet the ends of justice.

The appeals were partly allowed.

Pending miscellaneous applications were disposed of accordingly.