Sc Rejects Mp Hc Order On Less Punishment Of Rapist

SC rejects MP HC order on less punishment of rapist 1/2/2009 The Supreme Court has disapproved of the tendency to impose less than minimum sentence prescribed for a serious offence such as rape, as the crime inflicts not only physical or mental scars but also brings a sense of shame upon the victim. A bench comprising Justices S B Sinha and Cyriac Joseph, while setting aside the judgement of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, noted ‘One of the principles that the judiciary had all along kept in its mind was that rape being a violation of a woman’s modesty causes mental scar, thus not only a physical injury but a deep sense of some deathless shame also comes in.’ The Madhya Pradesh High Court had let off the accused in the rape of a minor with a sentence of less than seven years, the minimum punishment prescribed under the law. ‘The principle governing imposition of punishment would depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case,’ the apex court said. ‘An offence which affects the morale of the society should be severely dealt with. Socio-economic status, religion, race, caste or creed of the accused and the victim, although may not be wholly irrelevant, should be eschewed in a case of this nature, particularly when Parliament itself had laid down the minimum sentence,’ it added. ‘In India, we do not have sentencing guidelines. Necessity of the guidelines on the judicial side has been highlighted in the case of the state of Punjab vs Prem Sagar and others,’ the court said. Justice Sinha, while writing a 16-page judgement made it clear that the court could use its discretion for awarding less than the minimum sentence prescribed, which could be used only for adequate and special reasons. Bablu Nath was sentenced to seven years imprisonment each for the offences of rape and illegal consignment of a 13-year-old girl. The incident took place on March 27, 2000 and the accused was arrested on July 28, 2000. The SC allowed the appeal of the state of MP. UNI

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