SC rules HCs cannot suspend sentence unless case of acquittal made out

Finding the order that suspended the life sentence of the convicts “impermissible”, a bench of justices MR Shah and JB Pardiwala set aside the high court’s order passed on September 16 last year, and directed the three men, convicted for murder, to surrender before the Hajipur trial court within three days.

New Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday took exception to a Patna high court order allowing three life-sentence convicts to remain on bail till their appeal gets decided.

Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday took exception to a Patna high court order allowing three life-sentence convicts to remain on bail till their appeal gets decided. (Representational image/Shutterstock)

Finding the order that suspended the life sentence of the convicts “impermissible”, a bench of justices MR Shah and JB Pardiwala set aside the high court’s order passed on September 16 last year, and directed the three men, convicted for murder, to surrender before the Hajipur trial court within three days.

“The high court committed a serious error in suspending the substantive order of sentence of the convicts and their release on bail pending the final disposal of their criminal appeals,” the bench said, setting aside the high court’s order.

In doing so, the apex court interpreted the broad contours that high courts should bear in mind while deciding the issue of suspending sentence of an accused during the period of appeal under Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

“The endeavour on the part of the court should be to see as to whether the case presented by the prosecution and accepted by the trial court can be said to be a case in which, ultimately the convict stands for fair chances of acquittal,” the bench noted.

In coming to this conclusion, the high court should not “re-appreciate the evidence or try to pick up lacunae or loopholes here or there in the case of the prosecution” as such an approach would not be a correct one, the bench held.

Section 389 states that pending any appeal by a convicted person, the appellate court may order that the execution of the sentence or order appealed against be suspended and, even order release on bail on a personal bond.

To ascertain whether the convict has fair chances of acquittal, the bench said: “What is to be looked into is something palpable. Something which is very apparent or gross on the face of the record, on basis of which the court can arrive at a prima facie satisfaction that the conviction may not be sustainable.”

Justice Pardiwala, writing the judgment for the division bench, said, “If ultimately the convict appears to be entitled to have an acquittal at the hands of this Court, he should not be kept behind the bars for a pretty long time till the conclusion of the appeal, which usually take very long for decision and disposal.”

In the present case, however, the court noted that none of these parameters was met. “What the high court has done is something impermissible. It (HC) has gone into the issues like political rivalry, delay in lodging the FIR, some over-writings in the FIR, etc. All these aspects will have to be looked into at the time of the final hearing of the appeals filed by the convicts,” it said.

It directed the three convicts — Jai Shankar Chaudhary, Abhay Kumar and Ram Babu — sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life by the trial court in March 2021 for the 2018 murder of one Manish Kumar, the block pradhan, to surrender within three days. The top court’s order came on an appeal filed by the deceased’s brother who was the complainant in the case.