Delhi court awards life term to man for beating a person to death

A court here has awarded life imprisonment to a man for beating to death a person in 2008, but did not send him to the gallows saying "the crime should be eliminated and not the criminals".
    
Additional sessions judge Nivedita Anil Sharma, however, agreed to the contentions of the prosecutor that the offence was "grave" and the offender deserved a "substantive, stern and firm" punishment.
    
"I am of the considered opinion that despite the nature of offence being grave ... still death sentence should not be awarded to the convict as an opportunity should be given to reform and repent for the offence," the court said.

It held Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Sudarshan Park in west Delhi who used to run a 'chole-bhature' shop, guilty of killing his neighbour Uday Singh on the evening of September 29, 2008 following a dispute over a petty issue.
   
The court also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on him.

"The entire amount of fine, if realised, be awarded to widow of the victim as compensation under a provision of the CrPC," it said.

Earlier, the public prosecutor demanded death penalty for the convict saying the offence fell under the rarest of rare category and he was a menace to society.

"If a person is sentenced to imprisonment for life and subsequently, it is found that he was innocent and was wrongly convicted, he can be set free... such a reversal is not possible where a person has been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death," the court said.