Supreme Court Overturns High Court Ruling on Unsustainable Display of Excessive Sympathy

The Supreme Court in New Delhi has overturned a verdict from the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had reduced the sentence of a man who caused death by rash and negligent act. The Supreme Court stated that showing “undue sympathy” to the accused is unsustainable and that the high court had not considered that the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is punitive and deterrent in nature. The principal aim and object of the IPC is to punish offenders for offences committed under the Code. The appeal was filed by the state of Punjab against the high court judgment which had upheld the conviction of an accused for the offence under section 304-A (causing death by rash and negligent act) of the IPC but reduced the sentence from two years to eight months, subject to a prior deposit of Rs 25,000 towards compensation to be paid to the family of the deceased. The Supreme Court bench noted that while reducing the sentence, the high court had not considered the gravity of the offence and the manner in which the accused committed it by driving an SUV in a rash and negligent manner due to which one person died and two others, who were travelling in an ambulance, sustained injuries. The bench set aside the high court verdict reducing the sentence and restored the sentence imposed by the trial court. While allowing the appeal, it granted four weeks to the accused to surrender to undergo the remaining sentence.