Kerala High Court: The Division Bench comprising of K. Vinod Chandran and Ziyad Rahman A.A., JJ., temporarily suspended the sentence of the applicant to allow him to perform religious rites and rituals of his deceased mother.
The instant application had been submitted by the applicant who was held guilty of offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 148, 149, 120(B), 302 Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 3 and 5 of Explosive Substances Act, 1908 by the Additional Sessions Court. The sentence imposed upon him included life imprisonment as well.
The applicant sought for suspension of sentence for a short period on the ground that his mother passed away on 06-07-2021 and he had only one sister as sibling, therefore, he being the male heir, the religious rites in connection with the death of his mother had to be performed by him. The applicant urged that his sentence be suspended for a short period so as to enable him to carry out the religious rites and rituals in connection with the 41st day of the demise of his mother.
Considering the reasons highlighted by the petitioner, the Bench granted the petitioner liberty to perform the religious rituals for his mother. Accordingly, the application was allowed and his sentence was suspended for a period of one month subject to following conditions:
- The petitioner shall be released on bail on executing a bond for Rs 50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum to the satisfaction of the trial court; ii) From the date of release, he shall report before the SHO concerned between 10.00 and 11.00 a.m. on every Monday;
- On the date on which one month’s period expires, he shall report before the Superintendent, Central Prison concerned at 10.00 a.m.;
- He shall not involve in any offence while on bail;
- If the conviction and sentence of the petitioner/appellant is upheld or even modified, the time during which he is so released shall be excluded in computing the term of his sentence as provided in Section 389(4) CrPC.
[Biju v. State of Kerala, 2021 SCC OnLine Ker 2993, decided on 05-08-2021]
Kamini Sharma, Editorial Assistant has reported this brief.
Appearance by:
For the Petitioner: Advocate M.P.Madhavankutty and Advocate Shijoy John Mathew,
For the Respondent: Public Prosecutor
