Bombay High Court Orders Release Of 30-Yr-Old Convicted In 41 Theft Cases And Sentenced To Over 83 Yrs Imprisonment

The Bombay High Court has ordered the release of a 30-year-old man convicted in 41 theft cases and sentenced to over 83 year in prison, as the trial courts did not order his sentences to run concurrently.

A division bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice Gauri Godse observed that if a man is made to undergo imprisonment for an excessive period, it would lead to a travesty of justice.

“if the petitioner is permitted to undergo imprisonment in all the aforesaid cases, he would be compelled to undergo imprisonment of approximately 83 years 3 months and 5 days, and since he is not in a position to pay the fine, for non-payment of the fine amount, he would require to undergo imprisonment of further 10 years 1 month and 26 days i.e. a total of 93 years 5 months, his entire life, with no hope whatsoever, to even come out of jail. A sentence, more than what a life convict would have to undergo for murder. If permitted, this would certainly lead to travesty of justice”, the court observed.

The convict, one Aslam Shaikh, filed the present writ petition through the Legal Services Authority, seeking a direction that the sentences in the 41 cases should run concurrently. Additionally, he requested the setting aside of the total fine amount of Rs. 1,26,400/- imposed by various courts in these cases. Shaikh has been in custody since December 3, 2014, after being arrested and prosecuted for theft in different cases by various police stations.

Shaikh submitted that he was falsely implicated in these cases and, being illiterate and financially constrained, he pleaded guilty under the belief that he would be released for the period already served as an undertrial prisoner.

The High Court noted that the sentences were awarded by different courts without any direction for concurrent sentencing, and the discretion under Section 427(1) of the CrPC to run the sentences concurrently had not been exercised. It further observed that none of the courts considered Shaikh's financial condition or the fact that he was a juvenile during some of the alleged offenses. Further, Shaikh was not offered any legal aid for any of the cases, the court observed.

The High Court further opined that Shaikh might have gotten acquitted in some of the case, had he pleaded ‘not guilty’. “The material in some of the cases, if trial had commenced may have probably ended into petitioner’s acquittal, for want of evidence. It was the bounden duty of the learned Magistrates to have atleast perused the papers before awarding the sentences, more particularly, when the petitioner had pleaded guilty, so as to ensure that the sentences awarded were commensurate with the evidence on record against the petitioner”, the court stated.

The High Court noted that the petitioner's cumulative sentence would amount to over 90 years in prison, effectively a life sentence for theft, which was grossly disproportionate to the crime committed. The court emphasized that the primary goals of sentencing are deterrence and reformation, and in this case, such an excessive sentence would lead to a serious miscarriage of justice.

Thus, the court ordered Shaikh to be released on sentence undergone, unless he is required in any other case.

Case no. – Criminal Writ Petition No. 3157 of 2022

Case Title – Aslam Salim Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra

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