Summary
The Supreme Court sustained the convictions in two murder cases and imposed concurrent life sentences with no right to seek remission before thirty years of rigorous imprisonment. It set aside both the High Court’s reduction to the period already served and its later purported typographical correction. The substantive sentencing error required appellate correction. Despite counsel’s concession on conviction, the High Court had independently examined the evidence, so a fresh merits hearing was unnecessary.
Issues
- Whether conviction required reconsideration despite counsel’s recorded concession.
- Whether a substantive reduction of sentence could be deleted as a typographical error.
- What sentences and mode of running them were appropriate in the two murder cases.
Provisions considered
- Section 427(2), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973Life sentences could not run consecutively; the sentences in the two cases were to run concurrently. (¶¶ 29, 31, 33)
Held
- The record stated that counsel did not press conviction on instructions. A claimed error in that record had to be raised before the same court. Nevertheless, the appellate court had a duty to examine conviction, which the High Court discharged through its assessment of witnesses, medical and scientific evidence. (¶¶ 20, 21, 22)
- The reasoned reduction to time already served was a substantive decision, not a typographical error. The High Court lacked jurisdiction to reverse it through the later correction order, which was set aside. (¶¶ 23, 24, 25, 26)
- The reduction to sixteen years and ten months could not stand after the murder convictions were affirmed. The Supreme Court corrected the sentencing decision in the appeals brought by the complainants and State. (¶¶ 25, 27, 32, 33)
- The final sentences were life imprisonment in both cases, running concurrently, with no right to seek remission until completion of thirty years of rigorous imprisonment. The accused’s appeals were dismissed and the State’s and complainants’ appeals partly allowed. (¶¶ 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
Result
Accused’s appeals dismissed; complainants’ and State’s appeals partly allowed. Convictions sustained; concurrent life sentences with no right to seek remission before thirty years of rigorous imprisonment. High Court correction order and its reduction to time served set aside.