Important pointFor deciding just and appropriate sentence to be awarded for an offence, aggravating and mitigating factors and circumstances in which crime was committed are to be delicately balanced in a dispassionate manner by Court.

Headnote:Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 450, 376(1)/109(1)—Two accused-respondents convicted under and sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years with fine for offence of rape and 5 years imprisonment with fine for offence u/s 450 IPC—High Court in appeal reduced sentence to period already undergone when respondent A1 had undergone sentence for a period of about three years and six months and other accused had undergone imprisonment for about two months—Only ground for reducing sentence was that accused came from rural area—State appeal—Protection of society and stamping out criminal proclivity must be the object of law to be achieve by appropriate sentence—Duty of every Court to award proper sentence having regard to nature of offence and manner in which it was executed etc.—Aggravating and mitigating factors and circumstances in which crime was committed are to be delicately balanced—Reasons recorded by High Court for reducing sentence was unsustainable—Sentence imposed by trial Court restored.
       Held : Undue sympathy to impose inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system to undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law and society could not long endure under such serious threats. It is, therefore, the duty of every court to award proper sentence having regard to the nature of the offence and the manner in which it was executed or committed etc. This position was illuminatingly stated by this Court in Sevaka Perumal etc. v. State of Tamil Naidu (AIR 1991 SC 1463). (Para 9)
       Proportion between crime and punishment is a goal respected in principle, and in spite of errant notions, it remains a strong influence in the determination of sentences. The practice of punishing all serious crimes with equal severity is now unknown in civilized societies, but such a radical departure from the principle of proportionality has disappeared from the law only in recent times. Even now for a single grave infraction drastic sentences are imposed. Anything less than a penalty of greatest severity for any serious crime is thought then to be a measure of toleration that is unwarranted and unwise. But in fact, quite apart from those considerations that make punishment unjustifiable when it is out of proportion to the crime, uniformly disproportionate punishment has some very undesirable practical consequences. (Para 11)
       Imposition of sentence without considering its effect on the social order in many cases may be in reality a futile exercise. The social impact of the crime, e.g. where it relates to offences against women, dacoity, kidnapping, misappropriation of public money, treason and other offences involving moral turpitude or moral delinquency which have great impact on social order, and public interest, cannot be lost sight of and per se require exemplary treatment. Any liberal attitude by imposing meager sentences or taking too sympathetic view merely on account of lapse of time in respect of such offences will be result-wise counter productive in the long run and against societal interest which needs to be cared for and strengthened by string of deterrence inbuilt in the sentencing system. (Para 14)

Judgment

Arijit Pasayat, J.—Leave granted.

2. Since the only question involved in this Appeal is whether learned Single Judge was right in reducing the respective sentence as imposed on each of the respondents, detailed reference to the factual aspects is unnecessary.

3. The respondents faced trial for alleged commission of offences punishable under Sections 450, 376(1)/109(1) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the ‘IPC’) The respondent-accused Munna was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years with a fine of Rs. 2,000/- with default stipulation for the offence relatable to Section 376(1). He was also sentenced to undergo imprisonment of five years for the offence punishable under Section 450 IPC. Respondent-accused Ghanshyam was similarly sentenced. Both the substantive sentences were directed to run concurrently. The conviction was recorded by learned Session Judge Chhatarpur, who imposed the aforesaid sentences. The respondents-accused preferred an appeal (Crl. Appeal No. 829/2000) in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. By the impugned judgment, the High Court directed the sentence to be reduced to the period already undergone. It noted that the learned counsel for the accused persons who were the appellants before the High Court did not challenge the finding of conviction but only prayed for reduction in sentence. The High Court noticed that respondent-accused Munna had undergone sentence of imprisonment for a period of about three years and six months, while respondent-accused Ghanshyam had undergone sentence of imprisonment for a period of about two months. The only ground recorded for reducing the sentence was that the accused persons come from rural areas. That appeared to be a just and proper ground to the learned Single Judge to reduce the sentence to the period already undergone.

3. In support of the appeal learned counsel for the appellant-State submitted that the reduction of sentence as done by learned Single Judge was contrary to the law as laid down by this Court in several cases. While dealing with the offence of rape which was established, the direction for reduction of sentence should not have been given on the specious reasoning that the respondents-accused belonged to the rural areas.

4. Learned counsel appearing for the respondents submitted that the alleged occurrence took place nearly six years back and after considering the relevant aspects the learned Single Judge had directed reduction in sentence restricting it to the period already undergone. This Court should not interfere in the matter particularly under Article 136 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (in short the ‘Constitution’).

5. The crucial question which needs to be decided is the proper sentence and merely because of lapse of time or that the accused belonged to rural areas, the accused is to be waived from undergoing it. It is to be noted that the sentences prescribed for offences relatable to Section 376 are imprisonment for life or up to a period of 10 years.

6. The offence of rape occurs in Chapter XVI of IPC. It is an offence affecting the human body. In that Chapter, there is a separate heading for ‘Sexual offence’, which encompasses Sections 375, 376, 376-A, 376-B, 376-C, and 376-D. ‘Rape’ is defined in Section 375. Sections 375 and 376 have been substantially changed by Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1983, and several new sections were introduced by the new Act, i.e. 376-A, 376-B, 376-C and 376-D. The fact that sweeping changes were introduced reflects the legislative intent to curb with iron hand, the offence of rape which affects the dignity of a woman. The offence of rape in its simplest term is ‘the ravishment of a woman, without her consent, by force, fear or fraud’, or as ‘the carnal knowledge of a woman by force against her will’. ‘Rape’ or ‘Raptus’ is when a man hath carnal knowledge of a woman by force and against her will (Co. Litt. 123-b); or as expressed more fully,’ rape is the carnal kn

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2005 Supreme(SC) 135

Important pointFor deciding just and appropriate sentence to be awarded for an offence, aggravating and mitigating factors and circumstances in which crime was committed are to be delicately balanced in a dispassionate manner by Court.

Cases Referred (6)