Ex-Army officer gets life term for murder after 26 years

A Delhi court on Saturday awarded the life imprisonment to ex-Army officer S J Choudhary for killing businessman Krishan Sikand in a parcel bomb explosion 26 years ago.

"I sentence you to life term," District and Sessions Judge Mamta Sehgal said, pronouncing the sentence in a jam-packed courtroom.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Choudhary.

The court did not agree with the Central Bureau of Investigation's contention that the former Lieutenant Colonel deserved the death sentence for killing a defenceless person in a pre-planned manner, without any provocation.

Relatives of both Singh and Sikand were present in the courtroom when the punishment was pronounced.

Choudhary, 70, was on April 28 found guilty by the court for the murder of Krishan Sikand, who had died in an explosion caused by the parcel bomb delivered at his Sunder Nagar residence on October 2, 1982.

Choudhary's counsel S P Minocha had on Friday countered the CBI's contention for death sentence, saying the offence was a normal murder case.

There could not be bigger provocation for an Army officer than that his estranged wife, with whom the litigations for divorce were then on, was kept by the victim, he had said.

In his fervent plea, Minocha said the convict had fought battles for the country and won bravery awards.

The 70-year-old convict, who used a Pakistan-made hand grenade in the parcel, had plotted the murder as he was opposed to the victim's alleged plan to marry his estranged wife.