What is the law regarding the enhanced punishment in I.P.C.?

Question: What is the law regarding the enhanced punishment in I.P.C.? [M.P.C.J. 2001]

Find the answer to the mains question of IPC only on Legal Bites. [What is the law regarding the enhanced punishment in I.P.C.?]

Answer

Under Section 75 of the Indian Penal Code, a person convicted a second time of an offence punishable under Chapter XII or Chapter XVII of the Code, with three years is liable to a greatly enhanced sentence.

Although Section 75 of the Indian Penal Code makes a previous convict in certain classes of cases liable to enhanced punishment, it is, of course, not obligatory to impose an enhanced sentence in every case of this description. Ordinarily, cases of a petty nature should not be made the basis for an enhanced punishment unless the nature, number, and sequence of previous convictions and the sentences previously undergone clearly show the necessity of enhanced punishment.

Similarly; very old convictions (e.g., when the offence is committed, say, more than five years after the last release of the offender from Jail) should not ordinarily be made a ground for imposing an enhanced penalty under this section in the absence of special reasons. Therefore, the general principle to be borne in mind is that Section 75 is meant to be used as a deterrent only when the punishment provided for the offence itself is considered to be inadequate in view of the antecedents of the offender.

The Supreme Court has held in Dilip Kumar Sharma v. State of Madhya Pradesh [1976 AIR 133], that the expression ‘whoever has been convicted under this section means that the previous sentence must have been in operation. In case a previous conviction has been set aside by a higher court, it does not come within the abovementioned expression and consequently, this section has no application in such a case because it could not be said that the accused had a previous conviction.

The language is explicit when the section says whoever has been convicted by a ‘Court in India’. This means that the conviction must have been by a Court in India. Conviction by a foreign Court in a foreign country is naturally not covered under this section.

---

Important Mains/Long Questions for Judiciary, APO & University Exams

1. IPC Mains Questions Series Part I: Important Questions
2. IPC Mains Questions Series Part II: Important Questions
3. IPC Mains Questions Series Part III: Important Questions
4. IPC Mains Questions Series Part IV: Important Questions
5. IPC Mains Questions Series Part V: Important Questions
6. IPC Mains Questions Series Part VI: Important Questions
7. IPC Mains Questions Series Part VII: Important Questions
8. IPC Mains Questions Series Part VIII: Important Questions
9. IPC Mains Questions Series Part IX: Important Questions
10. IPC Mains Questions Series Part X: Important Questions