Minimum punishment for murder under Section 302 IPC is life imprisonment: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday reiterated that for the offence of murder, giving any punishment less than a life sentence would be contrary to Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) [The State of Madhya Pradesh vs Nandu @ Nandua]..A Bench of Justices MR Shah and Krishna Murari ruled that a Madhya Pradesh High Court order reducing a life sentence in a murder case to the the period already undergone in prison, was unsustainable."The punishment for murder under Section 302 IPC shall be death or imprisonment for life and fine. Therefore, the minimum sentence provided for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC would be imprisonment for life and fine. There cannot be any sentence/punishment less than imprisonment for life, if an accused is convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC. Any punishment less than the imprisonment for life for the offence punishable under Section 302 would be contrary to Section 302 IPC," the Court said. .The top court was hearing an appeal against a 2019 order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which confirmed a 1995 trial court conviction for murder but reduced the punishment. The High Court had given the accused the benefit of the right to private defence, and reduced the sentence to the period already undergone behind bars, which at the time was seven years and ten months. The State then moved the present appeal.Deputy Advocate General Ankita Chaudhary submitted that the order under challenge was erroneous and contrary to Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the IPC. The Court accepted the same, noting that the High Court had specifically maintained the conviction of the accused for murder but reduced the sentence to period already undergone. This, the top court said, was contrary to Section 302 and unsustainable.The Court, therefore, set aside the High Court verdict with respect to sentence and restored the punishment of life imprisonment handed down by the trial court..[Read Judgment]