21 years on, convicts’ appeal backfires, Punjab and Haryana High Court enhances fine from Rs 1,000 to Rs 50,000
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 1
The appeals filed by eight convicts in a 1999 murder case have backfired. In a major setback to them, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed their pleas upholding their conviction and life sentences, but enhancing the fine imposed by the trial court from Rs 1,000 to Rs 50,000 each.
The appeals, challenging the conviction and sentences handed down in 2003, were rejected as lacking merit.
The ruling by the Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma came on the appeals stemming from a case dated June 10, 2003. The court observed that the Additional Sessions Judge (Ad hoc), Fast Track Court, Patiala, convicted the appellants for murder under Sections 302 of the IPC and criminal conspiracy under Section 120-B of the IPC, before sentencing them to life imprisonment. The trial court also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 each, with an additional six months of rigorous imprisonment for non-payment.
In its judgment on the appeals, the Bench found the original fine to be “extremely minimal” requiring enhancement. The court observed: “The imposition of Rs 1,000 fine upon each of the accused is extremely minimal, and is required to be enhanced, as the fine amount is required to be on its realisation disbursed to the family members of the deceased…. The sentence of fine comprised in the sum of Rs 1,000 each, as imposed upon each of the convicts, was being ordered to be enhanced to Rs 50,000 each. Further, on realisation of the fine, the amount shall be disbursed as victim compensation to the family members of the deceased.”
The court also ruled that in default of the enhanced fine, the convicts would face an additional one-year rigorous imprisonment. The Bench also directed that the sentences would be executed immediately through committal warrants, if the appellants were on bail.
The judgment is significant as the fine amount is enhanced by the courts more often than not while reducing the sentence. Its enhancement, while maintaining the original life sentences, is an extraordinary step by the court, reflecting a rare judicial approach.
