In Bhura v. State of U.P., the Allahabad High Court modified the life sentence awarded to the accused to rigorous imprisonment of 13 years along with a fine of ₹3,000. In default of payment of such fine, the accused will undergo further rigorous imprisonment for a period of one month.
The accused Bhura @ Bhure along with Rahul committed rape on prosecutrix when she went to attend nature’s call. Rahul, being a juvenile, was sent to Juvenile Justice Board for trial. An FIR was lodged on the next day. The medical examination of the prosecutrix revealed that there is no injury on the external part of body, her hymen is torn, bleeding is present from inside vagina and the edge vagina permits two fingers with difficulty and pain. Also, no spermatozoa was seen in the slide taken from vaginal smear. The appellant averred that at the time of such incident, the accused was 19 years of age. At present, he is a laborer who has been in incarceration for about 13 years and aged 32 years. He is married. The prosecutrix also married and living a peaceful happy married life.
The appellant placed reliance on Dinesh @ Buddha v. State of Rajasthan wherein it was held that sentence awarded under section 376(2)(f) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 does not per se become a life sentence. The Court in this case, noted that the minimum sentence of ten years has been prescribed by the statute. The Court further noted that mere application of section 3(2)(v) of the Atrocities Act led to the award of life imprisonment. Therefore, the sentence was ultimately reduced to a period of 10 years.
The Court also took note of Bavo @ Manubhai Ambalal Thakore v. State of Gujarat wherein the Supreme Court converted the sentence of life imprisonment to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years, already undergone by the accused, to meet the ends of justice. The factual matrix of the case was similar to the instant case. The passing of ten years since the incident and no warrant of awarding maximum punishment i.e. life imprisonment in the IPC affected the Court’s decision.
Lastly, the Court also referred to the case of Rajendra Datta Zarekar v. State of Goa. In the said case, the conviction and sentence of 10 years was upheld but the fine amount of ₹10,000 was reduced to ₹1,000 for the Court considered it hefty.
There are several instances where the appellate court has reduced the period of sentence to serve the ends of justice.
