Long List Of Criminal Appeals Pending Hearing: Rajasthan HC Suspends Sentence Of Life Convict Who Served 10 Yrs, Cites Delay In Deciding Appeal

The Rajasthan High Court has suspended the sentence of an individual sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence of murder and released him on bail, pending his appeal in the case. The individual had filed an application under Section 389, CrPC, arguing that he had been in custody for more than 10 years and there was no likelihood of the appeal being taken up in the near future.

Section 389, CrPC provides that if an appeal is pending for any case in which an individual was convicted, the appellate court can order for suspending the sentence of that individual and release him on bail.

A division bench led by Justice Dinesh Mehta took note of arguments on both sides and made the following observation:

“Appellant-applicant has already undergone sentence for over 10 years and apparently, there are no chances of hearing of the present appeal in near future. Except for the fact that the appellant-applicant was involved in offence leading to his conviction for life, nothing has been brought on record by way of aggravating circumstances for denial of suspension of sentence.”

The counsel for the applicant referred to the Supreme Court cases of Sonadhar v the State of Chhattisgarh (“Sonadhar Case”) and Saudan Singh v the State of Uttar Pradesh (“Saudan Singh Case”). In the Saudan Singh Case, the court had observed that except for in certain exceptions, bail should be granted in cases where convicts had undergone sufficiently long sentences and appeals were pending in the high court. In the Sondhar case too, similar observations were made by the court:

“We are of the view that all persons who have completed 10 years of sentence and appeal is not in proximity of hearing with no extenuating circumstances should be enlarged on bail.”

It was argued that there were no reasons or aggravating circumstances for denying the application, and neither did the case fall under any exceptional circumstances.

On the other hand, the public prosecutor argued against the application contending that the offence committed was heinous and that suspending the sentence would send an adverse message to society.

Accordingly, the application was allowed, suspending the substantive sentence of the applicant during the pendency of the appeal and releasing him on bail.

Title: Deepak Khorwal v State of Rajasthan

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 123

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