The award of life imprisonment with a rider that it means "remainder of life" came under sharp attack from the Supreme Court on Thursday which said that it would be better to award death penalty to such convicts.
A Patna court on Thursday awarded life imprisonment to Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Pappu Yadav and former Member of Legislative Assembly Rajan Tiwari for the murder of Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Ajit Sarkar. During the trial, the CBI produced 61 witnesses in support of its case, while 27 witnesses were produced by the accused in their defence. Sarkar, a legislator from Purnea, was shot dead by men acting on Yadav's orders on June 14, 1998.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday gave its consent for jailed Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, to take oath as MP on July 5. Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh will pass an order on the plea on Tuesday.
The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (Prevention) court, hearing the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, on Tuesday sentenced two convicts to life imprisonment while three others were awarded rigorous imprisonment ranging from five to 14 years.
Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh granted the relief to Rashid, who had moved the court seeking interim bail to campaign in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the bail pleas of the convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case who were awarded the death penalty by the trial court but it was commuted to life sentence by the Gujarat high court.
A division bench comprising Justices Ashutosh Kumar and Jitendra Kumar disposed of the death reference moved by the state government on the order of a special National Investigation Agency court, and ruled that the four convicts shall serve "30 years in prison".
Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday introduced three bills in Lok Sabha to replace the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act, asserting that the proposed laws will transform the country's criminal justice system and bring the spirit to protect the rights of citizen at the centre stage.
Vijay Rupani was among 242 persons on board a London-bound Air India flight that crashed into a building of a medical college and hostel in the Meghaninagar area moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon.
In a landmark overhaul of colonial-era criminal laws, the Centre on Friday introduced in the Lok Sabha three bills to replace the IPC, CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act, proposing among other things repeal of the sedition law and introducing a new provision with a wider definition of the offence.
The parents of the victim doctor in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case have alleged that the investigation is incomplete and several others involved in the crime are still at large. The court is set to deliver its verdict on Saturday, with Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, facing charges of committing the crime. The victim's parents expressed concerns about the presence of other individuals at the crime scene who remain unidentified. The CBI, which is investigating the case, has sought capital punishment for Roy, claiming he was the sole perpetrator.
The newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaces the British-era Indian Penal Code, has made sexual offences "gender neutral" for the victim and the perpetrator, according to official documents.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Gujarat government, that he has to verify certain factual details with regard to some convicts.
Addition Sessions Judge Rajendra Kumar Shastri had on March 18 held Sharma guilty of hatching the conspiracy to murder Shivani, who had allegedly threaten to expose the suspended IPS officer's alleged involvement in leaking classified documents to her, nine years ago. Three other co-accused -- Sri Bhagwan Sharma, Pradeep Sharma and Satya Prakash -- were also held guilty for executing the suspended police official's plot to kill Shivani.
A court in New Delhi on Tuesday granted two-hour custody parole to Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid to take oath as a Lok Sabha MP on July 5.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the Gujarat government's decision to release all 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment for gang rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven members of her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
In a relief to former Mumbai police officer Pradeep Sharma, the Supreme Court on Monday said he need not surrender till further orders to undergo the life term awarded to him in a 2006 fake encounter case.
The first national flag in Independent India was hoisted at Fort St George in Madras, not at Delhi's Red Fort.
The Supreme Court of India ordered the release of a man who had spent 25 years in prison for murder, ruling that he was a juvenile at the time of the crime. The court found that the convict, Om Prakash alias Raju, had been wrongly convicted due to errors by the courts in determining his age. The case highlights the importance of proper age verification and the need for courts to actively ensure the fair treatment of juveniles within the legal system.
The Telangana High Court upheld a trial court's verdict handing out death penalty to five senior operatives of banned terror outfit, Indian Mujahideen, involved in a bomb blast that left 18 people killed in 2013. The court dismissed the criminal revision appeal filed by the IM operatives while upholding the NIA court's judgment. The five members, including IM co-founder Mohd Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal, Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rahman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahaseen Akhtar alias Monu and Ajaz Shaikh, were convicted in 2016. The special court for NIA cases here awarded capital punishment to five convicts treating it as a rarest of the rare case. The high court, after conducting a detailed hearing in the appeals filed by the convicts, confirmed the death sentence of the five IM operatives.
The lawyer submitted that even though the TADA court had held that it was not bound by the assurances of the government, the top court has the power to decide the issue.
Three others too were sentenced to life in the Mahendra Singh Bhati murder case.
The BJP has filed a police complaint against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of "physical assault and incitement" during a scuffle in Parliament premises. The complaint alleges that Gandhi, along with other opposition MPs, forcefully barged toward NDA MPs who were protesting against "misinformation" being propagated by opposition parties. The BJP has sought Gandhi's indictment under sections of attempt to murder and other charges. The Congress has strongly rejected the claim, alleging that BJP MPs pushed their chief Mallikarjun Kharge and "physically manhandled" Rahul Gandhi. Both parties have filed complaints with the police.
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol said the competent authority will decide the plea of the convict seeking mercy.
According to officials in the know of the development, the findings of a Court of Inquiry and his conviction and sentencing were confirmed by the higher Army authorities on November 11 as required under the law.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Vikram Saini and 11 others were sentenced to two years imprisonment in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case by a special MP/MLA court on Tuesday.
According to the report, there are 16 sitting MPs and MLAs who have declared cases related to rape under Indian Penal Code Section 376, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and can be extend to life imprisonment.
The Meerut Conspiracy Case was aimed at curbing communist influence in India. However, it fueled nationwide sympathy, shaping the course of leftist politics in the country.
Besides the murder charges, the Barwala police had also invoked offences of wrongful confinement in the two FIRs.
A TADA court on Thursday sentenced seven people convicted in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case to rigorous imprisonment ranging from five years to life imprisonment.
The Indian government is making every possible effort to save an Indian nurse facing execution in Yemen for murder, the Centre told the Supreme Court.
Mohan was released from the Saharsa jail on April 27 following an amendment in Bihar's prison rules.
The official said Sukhvinder's brother Satpal possibly transferred Rs 2.50 lakh from Canada to his cousin Jitu Singh alias Jita in Gwalior to facilitate the November 7 killing.
The high court upheld total 31 convictions in the case and commuted the death penalties of the 11 convicts to life term, Mehta said.
A sessions court in Kerala on Wednesday awarded double life sentence in the Uthra murder case to the victim's husband for killing his wife using a cobra, saying the crime was 'definitely diabolic, cruel, heinous and dastardly' and committed with 'unparalleled wickedness.'
Life in entire Kashmir Valley was thrown out of gear on Friday following a separatist shutdown and incidents of violence those left 14 persons including six cops wounded.
Pronouncing sole accused Sanjay Roy guilty of rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at state-run RG Kar hospital, Sealdah court judge Anirban Das on Saturday said the convict had attacked the postgraduate trainee while she was asleep in the hospital's seminar room around 4 am on August 9, 2024.
On August 18, the apex court convicted Singh in the case, overturning the orders of the trial court and the Patna high court that had acquitted him.
On a day when both the West Bengal government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) moved the Calcutta high court for admission of their appeals seeking capital punishment for RG Kar hospital rape-murder convict Sanjay Roy, a counsel for the victim's parents claimed that the family does not want death penalty for him.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha, while granting them the relief took note of the time they have already served and the unlikelihood of their appeals being taken up for disposal anytime soon.
