Factors Which May Not Be Relevant To Determine The Guilt Of Accused Can Be Considered At The Stage Of Sentencing: Supreme Court

Factors which may not be relevant to determine the guilt of the accused can be considered at the stage of sentencing, the Supreme Court observed.

In this case, the accused were convicted under Sections 344 and 366 of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly conspiring with the other accused to kidnap a minor girl. They were sentenced to undergo Simple Imprisonment for one year for offence under Section 344, IPC and a fine of Rs.2000/- and S.I. for two years for the offence under Section 366, IPC and a fine of Rs.5000/-. As the Karnataka High Court dismissed their appeals, they approached the Apex Court

The bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and R. Subhash Reddy had issued notice in the SLP limited to the quantum of sentence only.

The court noted that, even in the complaint, it was mentioned that the main accused was in love with the victim girl. The court also noted that the alleged incident is of the year 2014 and they have already served sentence of about three months and paid fine amount. The court also considered the accused's submission hat there is no one to take care of their minor son and old age parents.

"Many factors which may not be relevant to determine the guilt, must be seen with a human approach, at the stage of sentencing. While imposing the sentence, all relevant factors are to be considered, keeping in mind the facts and circumstances of each case.", the bench said.

Partly allowing the appeal, the bench, while confirming the conviction recorded and fine imposed, modified the sentence on the accused for the period already undergone. 

Case:  K.Prakash vs. State of Karnataka [CrA 336 OF 2021]

Coram: Justices Ashok Bhushan and R. Subhash Reddy 

Counsel: Adv Anand Sanjay M.Nuli, Adv Shubhranshu Padhi

Citation: LL 2021 SC 169

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