Sessions Court Cannot Impose ‘Till Rest of Life’ Sentence for Murder: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a Sessions Court cannot direct a convict sentenced to life imprisonment for murder to remain in prison until the end of their natural life, as such a direction would override statutory provisions governing remission and commutation.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi held that while life imprisonment ordinarily extends for the remainder of a convict’s life, the statutory powers of remission and commutation cannot be curtailed by a trial court.

The court said the power to impose a special category of life imprisonment without remission rests with Constitutional Courts and not Sessions Courts.

“Although life imprisonment denotes imprisonment for the remainder of the life of convict, the statutory powers of remission and commutation cannot be curtailed by a Sessions Court,” the bench observed.

The ruling came while hearing a criminal appeal filed by Naval Kishore and a co-convict in connection with the 2009 triple murder of a woman and her two minor daughters in Ludhiana, Punjab.

The victims were Pinki alias Simran, her eight-year-old daughter Divya and five-year-old daughter Pooja. The trial court in 2014 convicted the accused under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for life. It also directed them to remain in prison for the rest of their lives and imposed a fine of Rs 2,500 each.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed their appeal in December 2022 and upheld the conviction and sentence.

The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions but modified the sentence. It set aside the trial court's direction requiring the convicts to remain in prison for the remainder of their lives and instead sentenced both to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment without the benefit of statutory remission.

The bench said the Sessions Court was competent to impose life imprisonment under Section 302 IPC but could not impose an additional condition that effectively excludes the statutory powers of remission or commutation.