Leniency in punishment could have disastrous effects: Punjab and Haryana HC

The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) said a sentencing policy that is unusually mild and sympathetic in its operation would have a “disastrous” effect on society and would do more harm than good to public confidence in the efficacy of the law.

“…if the argument (of leniency) was to be accepted that in every case the court ought to exercise its powers under Section 427(1) of the CrPC then there would be multiple convictions for varying periods of time by different courts for different offences and the courts would be obligated to order concurrent running of sentences which defeats the very purpose of imposition of a sentence which must be not only deterrent in nature but must be befitting the crime,” the bench of justice JS Bedi observed while dismissing a plea from a convict from Haryana demanding that punishments awarded to him in three different cases should run concurrently.

Section 427 of the CrPC deals with the discretionary powers of a court to order the sentences in two cases to run concurrently in those cases where the first conviction is for a sentence other than life.

The plea was from one Brij Mohan who was awarded life term in two different murder cases and six years in jail in an attempt to murder case in 2006-07. All these cases were reported between 1999 and 2001. The plea stated that sentencing awarded to him should run concurrently. In case, the discretion was not exercised by this court, the petitioner would suffer irreparable loss and injustice, he had argued.

The court observed that there is “absolutely” no justifiable reason for this court to exercise its discretionary power as the offences in question in each case are completely different and do not arise out of the same transaction and are otherwise heinous offences. “It is, therefore, the duty of every court to award appropriate sentence having regard to the nature of the offence. Therefore, in cases where a person is a serial offender and that too for committing heinous crimes, the courts would do well in not wanting to exercise their powers under Section 427(1) CrPC to order concurrent running of sentences,” it said dismissing the plea.