A court in Shopian on Tuesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the murder of a person in 2019, observing that the case did not fall within the “rarest of rare” category warranting the death penalty.
Principal Sessions Judge Shopian Mehmood Ahmed Chowdhary awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh to Bilal Ahmad Seh, who was convicted under Section 302 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
The court said the convict had been in custody since his arrest on April 21, 2019, and had spent nearly seven years in custody during the trial.
The case, registered as FIR No. 19/2019 at Police Station Zainapora, initially involved charges under Sections 302, 307, 147, 148, 506, 109, 341 and 34 of the RPC.
While deciding the quantum of sentence, the court considered the mitigating and aggravating circumstances and referred to the Supreme Court’s guidelines on awarding the death penalty.
The court noted that the case was based on four eyewitnesses as well as circumstantial evidence. It also took into account that the convict was a first-time offender, was a farmer by profession and had been supporting his family.
The court observed that there were no aggravating circumstances of such an exceptional nature as to warrant capital punishment.
“Life imprisonment is the appropriate punishment to be awarded to the convict for commission of murder of the deceased,” the court said.
The court also noted that other accused named in the case, including the convict’s brother and two sisters, had been acquitted, while proceedings against another accused had abated following his death. A juvenile accused in the case is facing separate proceedings before the Juvenile Justice Board, according to the case record.
Since the sentence is one of life imprisonment, the court directed that the case file and judgment be submitted to the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for confirmation of the sentence as required under law.
The convict was directed to be sent to Special Jail Pulwama to undergo the sentence. The court also informed him of his right to appeal against the judgment and sentence before the High Court within 15 days.
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