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New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to a man convicted of murdering his father, noting that he has already served almost five years of the 10-year sentence awarded by the Chhattisgarh High Court.
A bench of Justice Manoj Mishra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order while hearing the Special Leave Petition (SLP) of the petitioner challenging his conviction.
“Considering the facts of the case and the period of sentence already served, we consider it appropriate to suspend the sentence awarded by the High Court during the pendency of this appeal,” the top court said.
The case arose out of an incident in which the appellant – Vijay Thakur – allegedly attacked his father with a wooden stick, causing his death. The trial court had convicted him under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
However, the Chhattisgarh High Court, in its judgment passed in April last year, modified the conviction under Section 304 Part-I of the IPC and reduced the sentence to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Sonia Mathur argued that the accused has already undergone almost four years and eleven months of imprisonment and sought suspension of the remaining period pending the appeal.
The order recorded, “It is submitted that so far the Appellant has already undergone a sentence of approximately 5 years (4 years 11 months). In such circumstances, it is prayed that the sentence awarded to the Appellant be suspended and the Appellant be released on bail during the pendency of the appeal.”
Granting the relief, a bench led by Justice Mishra directed that the appellant be released on bail “on such terms and conditions as the trial court thinks fit to impose in the facts and circumstances of the case.”
The top court also said that despite its earlier order directing the lower courts to submit the records of the case, “as per the office report, the records are still awaited.”
–IANS
PDS/UK