The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed the sentence of the present accused-appellant for rape and kidnapping charges after the bench noted he married the complainant and they have four children, reported the LiveLaw.
After hearing the case, the bench of Justices B.V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma observed that Article 142 of the Constitution confers special power to pass necessary orders for achieving complete justice.
The bench, taking note of the fact that the appellant-accused subsequently married the victim and had four children out of their wedlock, invoked its inherent power in the present case.
“Bearing in mind the fact that in this case, the appellant-accused has subsequently married the second respondent-prosecutrix and they have four children out of their wedlock, we find that the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case would persuade us to exercise our jurisdiction and powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India by following earlier dicta of this case in the aforesaid orders,” the LiveLaw quoted Supreme Court as saying.
What is the case?
Earlier, the complainant had lodged an FIR against three accused persons for committing criminal offences including rape and kidnapping, added the report.
The case is related to the incidents in 1997 and the trial court in 1999 convicted the appellant while acquitting the other two. But in 1999, the Chhattisgarh High Court affirmed this sentence and the accused filed this present appeal while challenging the HC order in the Supreme Court.
The report added that the appellant married the victim in 2003.
In the Supreme Court, the appellant argued that confirming his conviction would cause greater injustice.
Another Case:
A special court in Mohali has awarded life imprisonment to two former Punjab Police officers for killing two persons in a 1992 fake encounter in Amritsar.
They were convicted under sections 302 (murder) and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record) of the Indian Penal Code.
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