"Principle of just punishment is the bedrock of sentencing in respect of a criminal offence," says Supreme Court

While hearing the State of Punjab vs Dil Bahadur case today, the Supreme Court of India stated that the principle of just punishment is the bedrock of sentencing in respect of a criminal offence. The bench hearing the case also highlighted that “the High Court has not at all considered the fact that the IPC is punitive and deterrent in nature.” In this case, the Supreme Court bench hearing the matter comprises Justice M.R. Shah and Justice C.T. Ravikumar.  The impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court interfering with the sentence imposed by the learned Trial Court confirmed by the First Appellate Court by showing undue sympathy to the accused was unsustainable and the same was quashed and set aside. 

In this case, the respondent (original accused) was driving a Scorpio Car rashly and negligently, due to which one person died while overtaking the ambulance from the left side. The learned Trial Court convicted the accused for the offences under Sections 279 and 304A of the IPC and the sentence of the accused came to be confirmed by the learned Sessions Court. By the impugned judgment and order, though the High Court has confirmed the conviction of the accused for the offence under Section 304A of the IPC, however, High Court reduced the sentence to eight months subject to a prior deposit of Rs. 25,000. Against the HC judgment, the present appeal was preferred and the case was heard by the Supreme Court. The top Court bench stated that “While reducing the sentence, the High Court has not at all considered the gravity of the offence and the manner in which the accused committed the offence and driving the Scorpio in rash and negligent manner due to which one innocent person lost his life and two persons who were traveling in the ambulance sustained the injuries.” The top Court stated that the sentence imposed by the learned Trial Court confirmed by the First Appellate Court (learned Sessions Court) was restored and the appeal was allowed.

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