A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Saturday granted rigorous life imprisonment till death to an auto rickshaw driver and his accomplice in the murder case of Dhanbad additional district judge Uttam Anand.
Exactly a year after the judge was mowed down by a three-wheeler in an incident that sparked off security concerns in the entire judiciary, the court on July 28 held auto driver Lakhan Verma, 22, and his accomplice Rahul Verma, 21 guilty of the crime under sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
“After hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence, the court sentenced Lakhan and Rahul Verma to life imprisonment till death. It means that the two convicts will have to spend their entire life in jail and will not be able to avail the benefits of possible remission of sentence under section 357 (A) of CrPC. We are likely to get the final order by Tuesday. We will challenge the conviction before a higher court,” said Kumar Bimlendu, lawyer of Lakhan and Rahul.
Describing the case as among the rarest of rare cases and the crime to be an attack on the judiciary, the prosecution sought capital punishment for the two convicts. The defence on the other hand sought minimum punishment for the duo, citing their young age and the fact that they are first time offenders. The court, however, sentenced the convicts to jail term till their last breath.
{{/usCountry}}Describing the case as among the rarest of rare cases and the crime to be an attack on the judiciary, the prosecution sought capital punishment for the two convicts. The defence on the other hand sought minimum punishment for the duo, citing their young age and the fact that they are first time offenders. The court, however, sentenced the convicts to jail term till their last breath.
{{/usCountry}}Justice Anand was on a morning jog when he was mowed down by the vehicle on July 28 last year. The vehicle, which was stolen from Dhanbad, was recovered from neighbouring Giridih district that night. The two convicts were arrested two days later.
The Supreme Court and the Jharkhand high court took suo motu cognisance of the hit-and-run incident after CCTV footage showed the three-wheeler swerving on an empty road to knock him down.
The CBI took over the probe on July 31 after the top court said the incident had larger ramifications for the independence of the judiciary. The Jharkhand government also recommended an investigation by the central agency in the case.
The CBI filed its charge sheet against the duo under the mentioned sections on October 20. The sessions court framed the charges on February 2 this year and completed the trial on July 26.
The CBI had produced 58 witnesses, including a team of 40 experts comprising doctors, scientists and forensic experts, to substantiate the case. The defence, however, had pleaded that it was not an intentional hit and the only charge the accused could attract was 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).