'MP HC Hearing Appeals Of 2013-14' : Supreme Court Suspends Sentence Of Murder Convict Citing Unlikelihood Of Early Hearing

In an exceptional circumstance, the Supreme Court has suspended the sentence of a murder convict, noting that his 2018 appeal remains pending before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and is unlikely to be taken up for final hearing in the near future since the High Court is currently hearing criminal appeals from 2013 and 2014. A bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan heard a case where the petitioner was tried and convicted by a Trial Court for the murder of his wife and sentenced to life imprisonment. Challenging the conviction, the petitioner filed a criminal appeal before the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2018, which remains pending. The petitioner is undergoing imprisonment for eight years pending his criminal appeal. During the pendency of the appeal, the petitioner moved an application under Section 389(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking suspension of sentence and grant of bail. However, the High Court declined to grant relief, prompting the petitioner to approach the Supreme Court.Given the fact that the petitioner has been undergoing a sentence for the last eight years during the pendency of his criminal appeal before the High Court, the Court exercised its discretion in the petitioner's favor to grant him the benefit of suspension of sentence in a murder case. “We are informed that at present the High Court of Madhya Pradesh is taking up Criminal Appeals of the years 2013 and 2014 respectively. The Criminal Appeal of the present petitioner is of the year 2018. By the time it is taken up for hearing, the petitioner may undergo a further three to four years of imprisonment… we are persuaded to exercise our discretion in favor of the petitioner.”, the Court observed. “We order that the substantive order of sentence of life imprisonment passed by the Trial Court shall remain suspended and the petitioner is ordered to be released on bail pending the final disposal of his Criminal Appeal in the High Court, subject to terms and conditions that the Trial Court may deem fit to impose.”, the court ordered. Another coordinate bench led by Justice CT Ravikumar in the case of Shivani Tyagi Versus State of U.P. & Anr. , 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 333 observed that factors of the likelihood of delay and incarceration for a particular period should not be a sole consideration while deciding the plea of the accused to suspend the sentence pending the appeal against the conviction under Section 389 of Cr.P.C. in heinous offences like murder. Cause Title: SHIVENDRA VERSUS THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH Click here to download orderAppearance: For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Prathvi Raj Chauhan, AOR Mr. Venkatesh Rajput, Adv. Mr. Sachin Singh, Adv. Mr. Ram Lok Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Neetesh, Adv. For Respondent(s) : Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR Mr. Abhimanyu Singh -g.a., Adv. Mr. Manoj Kumar, Adv. Mr. Aditya Chaudhary, Adv. Ms. Silpi S Swain, Adv.

'MP HC Hearing Appeals Of 2013-14' : Supreme Court Suspends Sentence Of Murder Convict Citing Unlikelihood Of Early Hearing

Yash Mittal

Tags