New Delhi: The Supreme Court has decided to examine an important question of law: whether the life sentence awarded to an accused in a heinous crime must be construed as life in jail till death or should a term of imprisonment be prescribed.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justices Arun Mishra and Amitav Roy posted for hearing on July 21 the writ petition filed by life convict Sukh Sagar Mishra of Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh raising this question and seeking his release at the end of 20 years. Counsel Harshvir Pratap Sharma argued that the interpretation that life sentence would mean the whole life was violative of Article 21 of the Constitution (right to life and liberty).
The Bench, which has posted a batch of petitions relating to the remission granted to life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case said the present writ petition will be heard along with this batch. The term of life imprisonment varies from country to country for heinous crimes, like murder.
In the United States, in some states, a life sentence means life without the possibility of parole. In other states, people with life sentences are eligible for parole.
In the UK, the average sentence is about 15 years before the first parole hearing, although those convicted of heinous offences serve their sentences significantly longer, in some cases even 40-year sentences are imposed. Some receive whole life sentences and die in prison. Prisoners jailed for life are released on a life licence if the parole board authorises their release.
With the abolition of the death penalty in Australia, life imprisonment is the most severe penalty given to accused in heinous crimes. It is a penalty imposed in most cases only for murder. It varies from 13 to 20 years, before they may be considered for release on parole. In Canada, the maximum determinate sentence is a life sentence with a 25-year parole ineligibility period.
The petitioner in this case submitted that life term in India is not defined and sentence is awarded without a fixed period, except in few cases, like Swami Premananda where it was fixed as 25 years of two terms. The IPC was amended in 1956, thereby life sentence was reckoned as 20 years.
