Sessions court can’t award life till death sentence for murder: HC

Mumbai: Holding that a sessions court has no power to sentence an accused to life imprisonment till his death, Bombay high court modified the sentence to life imprisonment, while upholding conviction of a hairstylist from Andheri for murdering his wife in May 2012.
The accused, now aged 47, was inside the locked flat when firefighters broke open the flat door.He was near her body in the bedroom and a blood-stained dagger was lying nearby “with which he brutally murdered” his wife, the appeal bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Manjusha Deshpande held in the ruling last week.
HC said, “All witnesses examined by prosecution not only support its case, but inspire confidence; their testimony cannot be doubted.”
The life till death sentence by the trial court is “legally impermissible”, HC said, agreeing with submissions made by the accused’s counsel M K Kocharekar, as the power to award such a special category of sentence is with HC or Supreme Court. HC then modified the sentence to life term, which could in future, entitle him to remission.
In Oct 2014, a sessions court had convicted the hairstylist for cruelty to his wife and murder on cogent evidence, prosecutor P P Shinde submitted. HC too said no interference was called for.
The bench said, “Though present case is based on circumstantial evidence, the chain of circumstances is complete and leaves no room to doubt the involvement of the accused in the crime.” It added that the accused also gave “no explanation” on how his wife died though they were the only two persons in the locked flat.
“There is nothing elicited from witnesses during cross-examination, which would shake their credibility,” said HC, noting that the dagger had blood which matched with the victim’s and that the accused had threatened to trigger a gas cylinder explosion as it was found uncapped in the bedroom.