In a petition filed through jail before the Bombay High Court for seeking relief of being placed in a category of convicts to undergo a sentence of 22 years for the crime for which the petitioner was imprisoned, a Division Bench of Justice A.S. Gadkari and Justice Shyam C. Chandak refused to entertain the request of the petitioner, considering the offence committed by him and dismissed the petition.
The petitioner was an alcoholic who used to quarrel with his wife regularly. On 22-07-2007, he went back home under the influence of alcohol when his wife requested him to bring medicine for their ill son. The petitioner got enraged and started assaulting his wife. The wife retaliated by saying, “You have money to drink liquor, but not to bring medicine for the child”. After hearing this, the petitioner burned her by pouring kerosene.
The petitioner was convicted of an offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life for murdering his wife by pouring kerosene on her and setting her on fire. The appeal preferred by the petitioner against the judgment and order of conviction was dismissed by this Court.
After considering the facts of the case, the Competent Authority, the Home Department of the Maharashtra Government, placed the petitioner in Category No. 2(c) of the guidelines issued on 15-03-2010, as per which the period of imprisonment to be undergone by the petitioner was 26 years.
Considering the offence committed by the petitioner, the Court found that the Competent Authority had rightly placed the petitioner under the said category, and it was held that the petitioner’s request for being placed in a category for which the period of imprisonment is prescribed as 22 years could not be acceded to.
Thus, the petition was dismissed for lack of merit.
Appearances:
For Petitioner – Ms. Manisha Devkar
For Respondent – Mr. Amit A. Palkar (APP)
