Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • PM Modi in Manipur
  • Charlie Kirk killer
  • Sushila Karki
  • IND vs PAK
  • India-US ties
  • New human organ
  • Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Movie Review
fp-logo
SC to courts: Punish on basis of crimes, not to battle social evils
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • India
  • SC to courts: Punish on basis of crimes, not to battle social evils

SC to courts: Punish on basis of crimes, not to battle social evils

FP Archives • October 9, 2013, 18:44:09 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

The apex court made it clear that punishment should be decided only on the basis of “crime and criminal test” by taking into account the nature of the offence and accused.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
SC to courts: Punish on basis of crimes, not to battle social evils

New Delhi: Amid strident calls for stringent penalty for heinous crimes, the Supreme Court has ruled that quantum of punishment cannot be determined on the basis of necessity to combat social evils like dowry deaths and atrocities against women. The apex court made it clear that punishment should be decided only on the basis of “crime and criminal test” by taking into account the nature of the offence and accused. [caption id=“attachment_1162657” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] ![Supreme Court of India. AFP](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/supremecourt_AFP2.jpg) Supreme Court of India. AFP[/caption] A bench of justices SJ Mukhopadhaya and Ranjan Gogoi said there is “enormous discretion” vested in the courts in sentencing an offender and there is no norms or even guidelines governing this exercise. “The necessity to combat the menace of demand for dowry or to prevent atrocities on women and social evils as well as the necessity to maintain the purity of social conscience cannot be determinative of the quantum of sentence inasmuch as the said parameters would be common to all offences under Section 304-B(dowry death) of the Penal Code. “The above, therefore, cannot be elevated to the status of acceptable jurisprudential principles to act as a rational basis for awarding varying degrees of punishment on a case to case basis,” it said. The bench said that there is no norm or even guidelines governing the exercise of the vast discretion in the matter of sentencing laid down in any law except perhaps Section 354(2) of Criminal Procedure Code which, interalia, requires the judgement of a court to state the reasons for sentence awarded. “The attempt at evolution of a principle based sentencing policy as distinguished from a judge centric one was noted to have suffered some amount of derailment/erosion” the court said. The apex court passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by Sunil Dutt Sharma who was convicted and sentenced by a trial court to life imprisonment in a dowry death case of his wife. The court reduced the quantum of sentence to ten years jail term after noting that the convict was acquitted from the charges of murder and he had no criminal background. “The accused also has a son who was an infant at the time of the occurrence. He has no previous record of crime. On a cumulative application of the principles that would be relevant to adjudge the crime and the criminal test, we are of the view that the present is not a case where the maximum punishment of life imprisonment ought to have been awarded to him,” the bench said. PTI

Tags
NewsTracker SC Supreme Court of India quantum of punishment social evils
End of Article
Written by FP Archives

see more

Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Impact Shorts

'New dawn': PM Modi meets Manipur violence victims in first visit since 2023 unrest

'New dawn': PM Modi meets Manipur violence victims in first visit since 2023 unrest

Prime Minister Modi visited Churachandpur, Manipur, meeting displaced people from ethnic clashes. Modi laid foundation stones for 14 development projects worth over ₹7,300 crore in Churachandpur. Opposition criticized Modi's visit as "too little, too late" and questioned its impact on healing wounds.

More Impact Shorts

Top Stories

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports

QUICK LINKS

  • Mumbai Rains
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV