Supreme Court overturns probation for convicts in brutal 2003 attack

The Supreme Court ordered two convicts in a 2003 Bahraich attack to surrender. The ruling condemned misplaced sympathy and stressed the brutality of the crime.

The Supreme Court has strongly criticised the Allahabad High Court for releasing on probation two men convicted in a 2003 knife and gun attack, saying they had avoided imprisonment because of "misplaced sympathy" despite the brutality of the crime, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The court set aside the High Court order and directed the convicts to surrender within two weeks. If they fail to do so, the Additional Sessions Court in Bahraich must immediately begin proceedings to apprehend them.

The case arose from a business rivalry after the complainant opened a shop near that of the accused in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district. On the day of the incident, one accused was armed with a cutting weapon and the other with a gun. They attacked the victim and caused severe injuries, leaving him unconscious before he was taken to Bahraich Hospital.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran faulted the High Court for applying Section 4 of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, on the ground that the accused were first-time offenders without considering the brutality of the crime and the serious injuries suffered by the victim, PTI reported.

"The circumstances of the case, including the nature of the offence and the character of the offender, should be the reigning factor in deciding as to whether it is expedient to release the accused on the premise of good conduct; which in the facts of this case is lacking," the bench said.

The Supreme Court said it could not understand why the High Court had observed that the accused had been suffering for 22 years when they had remained on bail and were "merrily indulging in criminal activities".

"We cannot but, with an amount of consternation, notice the casual manner in which both the Trial Court and the High Court considered the issue from the stage of taking cognisance till the release of the accused on application of the PoO Act," the bench said.

"The accused have gone scot-free without suffering a single day of imprisonment, especially by reason of the misplaced sympathy based on grandiose expositions of law, totally inapplicable to the facts of the case. Section 4 of the PoO Act does not permit its invocation when it is found that the accused is a first offender," it added.

The court said the victim had continued to suffer the debilitating effects of the attack over the years. "The brutality of the crime and the grievous nature of the injuries sustained by the victim ought to have persuaded the Court to draw an adverse inference on the aspect of 'nature of offence'," the bench said.

The Supreme Court also criticised the trial court for framing a charge under Section 308 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with an attempt to commit culpable homicide, instead of Section 307, which deals with an attempt to murder.

"The criminal appeals shall stand restored before the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow. We request the High Court to take up the appeal only after ensuring that the accused are taken into custody and then only the appeal be heard," the bench said.

The criminal appeals will therefore return to the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench, but they can be heard only after the two convicts surrender or are taken into custody.