PLEA IN SC SEEKS TO KNOW IF LIFE SENTENCE MEANS ENTIRE LIFE

The Supreme Court on Friday has agreed to hear a petition which sought to know whether the specification of 'life sentence would mean the entire life or can it be commuted or remitted by powers under section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc).

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Section 432 of the CrPC deals with power to suspend or remit sentences.

A bench of justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra issued notice to the Delhi government seeking its  response on the plea filed by Chandrakant Jha, who is serving life term after being convicted in 3 murder cases in which headless torsos were found outside Tihar jail in 2006 & 2007.

In his plea filed through advocate Rishi Malhotra, Jha stated that he has been convicted for the offences under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC.

Earlier, he stated that the Delhi High Court commuted the death sentence awarded to him by a trial court and converted it to life imprisonment but with a rider that sentence of life imprisonment would mean full term of life of the petitioner.