The Delhi High Court in the case Ajay Kumar v. The State NCT of Delhi observed and has granted benefit of Section 427 Cr.P.C. to a man convicted of rape as stated under 376 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the abetment of suicide under section 306 of IPC, holding that the causal facts giving rise to the two offences were intrinsically intertwined and could not be segregated into two distinct sets.
The bench headed by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela in the case observed and has passed the judgement in response to an oral application made by the appellant-accused to the effect that his two sentences (RI for 10 years under section 376 IPC and RI for 7 years under section 306 IPC) be directed to run ‘concurrently’ instead of ‘consecutively’.
It has been submitted by the appellant who has undergone more than 7.5 years of imprisonment that if this prayer for conversion of sentence was granted, the appellant would not pursue the appeal.
It has also been provided under section 427 Cr.P.C. that the subsequent sentence of imprisonment shall commence at the expiration of the previous term of imprisonment, unless the court directs that it shall run concurrently.
The court opined that the jurisdiction conferred was purely discretionary and could be exercised by it.
The court in the case obserevd that the committing of suicide by the deceased was as a consequence and result of the trauma, humiliation, shame that the deceased felt during the interregnum when the applicant or appellant was committing the offence under section 376 IPC over a period of time.
It has also been highlighted by the court that the case of the prosecution was not that the deceased committed suicide on any independent or unconnected factor, having no relation to the appellant or the offence under section 376 IPC.
The present case was registered following death by suicide of a 30-year-old married woman, who worked with the appellant and was statedly raped by him on multiple occasions.
The counsel appearing for the appellant argued before the court that committing of suicide by the deceased was directly related to the alleged offence under section 376 IPC. Thus, even if the same is assumed to be true, the two offences formed part of the same transaction.
On the other hand, the counsel appearing for the AAP contended that the two offences were distinct in nature, and that the deceased ended her life on account of shame as well as owing to the threats extended by the appellant for establishing physical relations with him. Therefore, it was pressed that considering the gravity and nature of the offences, the benefit of Section 427 Cr.P.C. ought not be granted to the appellant.
Accordingly, the court dismissed the appeal.
The counsel, Advocate Mr. M.L. Yadav appeared for appellant. The counsel, Advocates Mr. Shoaib Haider, APP with Insp. Kusum Dhama, PS- Women Cell/South Distt. and Insp. Asha, PS-Kapashera represented the respondent.