UDHAMPUR, OCT 1: The Court of the Additional Principal Sessions Judge, Udhampur, Y.P. Sharma, has awarded life imprisonment to a man convicted of murdering Prem Singh in 2017, bringing a nine-year-old murder case to its judicial conclusion.
The convict, Awant Singh, son of Sandoo, resident of Channi Morh, Sarmali, Tehsil Majalta, was sentenced to imprisonment for life along with a fine of ₹20,000. In case of failure to pay the fine, he will undergo an additional six months of simple imprisonment.
According to the prosecution case, on April 17, 2017, Police Station Majalta received telephonic information from a reliable source that at around 9:45 am, Awant Singh allegedly entered the compound of Prem Singh following an old enmity and attacked him with an iron angle, striking him on the head.
Acting on the information, FIR Number 18/2017 under Section 302 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) was registered at Police Station Majalta and investigation was initiated. After completion of the investigation, the police presented the challan before the competent court for trial.
During the proceedings, the prosecution was represented by Public Prosecutor Jaswant Raj, while the accused was represented by his counsel. After examining the material and hearing the arguments, the court held the offence proved against the accused and proceeded to determine the appropriate sentence.
While observing that the offence was grave and had resulted in the loss of a precious human life, the court noted that sentencing requires consideration not only of the seriousness of the crime but also of relevant mitigating circumstances.
The court took into consideration the convict’s absence of previous criminal antecedents, his social and economic circumstances, the possibility of his reformation and rehabilitation, and the period already spent in custody.
As per the challan, the convict was 29 years old at the time of the offence. The court also noted his submission that he was unmarried and had no previous criminal background.
The court further observed that the convict had remained under trial for more than eight years and held that the case did not fall within the category warranting capital punishment under the “rarest of rare” principle.
Consequently, the court sentenced Awant Singh to imprisonment for life, along with a fine of ₹20,000.
The court directed that the fine amount be paid to the wife of deceased Prem Singh as compensation, providing a monetary component of relief to the victim’s family alongside the criminal sentence.
The court also ordered that the period already undergone by the convict in police and judicial custody during investigation and trial be set off against the sentence in accordance with Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The judgment brings to an end the trial arising from the 2017 murder case, with the court balancing the gravity of the offence with the legally recognised mitigating circumstances while imposing life imprisonment rather than capital punishment.
