Summary
The Supreme Court held that the accused’s death did not cause total abatement of his appeal from a composite sentence of imprisonment and fine. The fine affected assets potentially reaching his legal heirs, who were entitled to be heard. Although the High Court correctly treated the fine appeal as surviving, it had not apparently afforded the heirs that opportunity. Its judgment was set aside and the criminal appeal revived for fresh hearing after their participation.
Issues
- Whether death abated an appeal from a composite imprisonment-and-fine sentence, and whether the legal heirs had to receive an opportunity to contest the surviving fine liability.
Provisions considered
- Section 394, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973The exception for an appeal from a fine includes a composite sentence of imprisonment and fine; death did not wholly abate this appeal. (¶¶ 7, 15, 16, 18, 19)
- Section 70, Indian Penal Code, 1860Death does not discharge property legally liable for the offender’s debts from unpaid fine liability, supporting the heirs’ interest in the appeal. (¶¶ 11, 20)
Held
- An appeal from a sentence combining imprisonment and fine remains an appeal from a sentence of fine; the statutory exception is not confined to fine-only sentences. The interpretation of former Section 431 carries over to Section 394. (¶¶ 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19)
- Fine can affect the deceased’s property in the hands of legal representatives. The High Court should therefore have given those heirs an opportunity to make submissions; its judgment did not indicate that they were heard or represented after the accused’s death. (¶¶ 10, 11, 12, 13, 20)
- Revival for a fresh hearing of the surviving appeal was required to afford the heirs that opportunity, without accepting their contention that the appeal had abated altogether. (¶¶ 19, 20, 21, 22)
Result
Appeal partly allowed; High Court judgment dated 6 March 2014 set aside and Criminal Appeal No.254 of 2007 revived for fresh hearing after giving the accused’s legal heirs an opportunity to be heard.