Offence under Section 302 of I.P.C. is proved against A, beyond all shadows of reasonable doubt. The Sessions Judge proceeds to convict the accused and sentenced him to imprisonment for life without hearing him on the question of sentence. Can such judgment stand on appeal?

Question: Offence under Section 302 of I.P.C. is proved against A, beyond all shadows of reasonable doubt. The Sessions Judge proceeds to convict the accused and sentenced him to imprisonment for life without hearing him on the question of sentence. Can such judgment stand on appeal? [WB J.S. 1998]

Find the answer only on Legal Bites. [Offence under Section 302 of I.P.C. is proved against A, beyond all shadows of reasonable doubt. The Sessions Judge proceeds to convict the accused and sentenced him to imprisonment for life without hearing him on the question of sentence. Can such judgment stand on appeal?]

Answer

Section 235 in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 lays down provision for Judgment of acquittal or conviction as follow:

“(1) After hearing arguments and points of law (if any), the Judge shall give a judgment in the case.

(2) If the accused is convicted, the Judge shall unless he proceeds in accordance with the provisions of Section 360, hear the accused on the question of sentence, and then pass sentence on him according to law.”

This sub-section requires the Court to give a hearing to the accused on the question of the sentence. It is held to be a mandatory provision by the Hon’ble SC in Santa Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR 1976 SC 2386. In case of non-compliance with this provision, the case may be remanded to the Sessions Judge for retrial on the question of the sentence only.

As held in, when a case is then remitted to the Sessions Court, it is not necessary for the Sessions Judge to hold a de novo trial. The trial will be restricted only to the question of sentence. But when such remand is likely to cause delay, it is open to the appellate Court to remedy the breach by giving a hearing to the accused on the question of sentence.

Thus, the decision of the Sessions Judges to convict the accused and sentenced him to imprisonment for life without hearing him on the question of the sentence stands to be retried on the question of sentence by virtue of non-compliance of sub-section 2 of Section 235 and sub-section 3 of Section 354.

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