'No Immediate Possibility Of Appeal Being Heard': Calcutta HC Suspends Sentence Of Two Convicts Who Had Been In Custody For Over 10 Years

The Calcutta High Court has recently suspended the sentence of imprisonment imposed on two convicts on the ground that there lies no possibility of their appeals being heard within a reasonable time. The Court also took into consideration that the convicts had already been in custody for over 10 years and had also shown satisfactory conduct during custody.

A Bench of Justices Rabindranath Samanta and Soumen Sen observed,

"We find that the applicants have an arguable case towards success of the appeal, moreover, petitioners are not responsible for the delay in disposal of the appeal. The appellants are in custody for over 10 years. We do not find that the appeal could be disposed of within a measurable time. In the aforesaid conspectus of facts we feel that the liberty of the petitioners under Article 21 of the Constitution of India needs to be protected."

The Court was adjudicating upon a plea moved by two convicts aged 66 years and 70 years respectively seeking a suspension of their sentence due to the long incarceration already served in addition to the bleak possibility of a speedy disposal of their appeal.

The Bench took cognisance of a report filed by the Superintendent of Berhampore Central Correctional Home wherein it had been stipulated that the conduct of the convicts during custody had been satisfactory and that no adverse findings had been reported.

"The views of the co-inmates also suggest that the petitioners are supportive and no complaint was found from the co-inmates against the life convicts at the Correctional Home", the Court further observed.

Reliance was also placed by the Court on a host of Supreme Court judgments such as Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee Representrial Undertrial Prisoner v. Union of India, Kashmira Singh v. The State of Punjab among others to opine that the convicts are entitled to a suspension of sentence primarily because there is very little possibility of their appeals being heard in the near future and also taking into consideration the nature of the offence and the quality of the prosecution evidence on record.

"Considering the long incarceration of the petitioners and having regard to the fact that there is no immediate possibility of the appeal being taken up for hearing on merits, we allow the application for suspension of sentence in the result the sentence of imprisonment shall stand suspended", the Court further directed.

Accordingly, the petitioners were directed to be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.10,000 each with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local subject to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Murshidabad at Berhampore. The petitioners were also ordered to be present on all future dates of hearing of the appeals.

Furthermore, the Court listed the hearings of the pending appeals on December 6, 2021.

Case Title: Chand Swadagar & Anr v. State of West Bengal

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