'Not Proper To Keep Him In Jail Forever': Supreme Court Reduces Sentence Imposed On Dacoity Cum Murder Convict To 22 Years Imprisonment

The Supreme Court reduced the sentence imposed on a man convicted in a dacoity­ cum­ murder case to 22 years actual imprisonment.

Shivalinga @ Shivalingayya was convicted under Sections 396 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to death penalty by the Trial Court. The Karnataka High Court, partly allowing appeal, converted the death sentence to imprisonment for life. Shivalinga and other accused were accused of attacking the driver and cleaner of a lorry which resulted in cleaner's death.

Before the Apex Court, in appeal, it was submitted that the accused has already undergone imprisonment for a period of about 18 years and that his application for early release on remission is rejected by the Government of Karnataka.

"Having gone through the entire material on record, we find that it is a heinous crime of dacoity ­cum­ murder. The appellant and other accused have not only chopped the hand of PW­3 but also committed murder of the cleaner, namely, Shivashankar. They have also committed dacoity by taking away the tyres, jack, tarpaulin, tape recorder etc., of course, they are not so worthy. . Be that as it may, it may not be proper to keep the appellant in jail forever. Hence, we heard on the point of sentence also and have taken decision consciously under the facts and circumstances of the case", the bench comprising Justices Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Vineet Saran observed.

The court said that the interest of justice would be met if the sentence of the accused is restricted to 22 years instead of whole life.

"Since the appellant's application for early release on remission is rejected, the appellant shall undergo 22 years of compulsory imprisonment. It is brought to our notice that he is still young and is about 38 years of age. Be that as it may, he may improve his conduct after coming from jail", the court said while partly allowing the appeal.

CASE: SHIVALINGA @ SHIVALINGAYYA  vs STATE OF KARNATAKA  [CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1186 OF 2018
CORAM: Justices Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Vineet Saran
COUNSEL: Adv Rajni K. Prasad, AOR, N. Annapoorani, AOR Shubhranshu Padhi
CITATION : LL 2021 SC 98

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