Gauhati High Court Relaxes Life Imprisonment Sentence for Murder Convict

GUWAHATI: Asserting that "there was no premeditation on the side of the accused while causing the death of the deceased by stabbing on his neck," the Gauhati High Court reversed a murder conviction from a lower court and reduced it to a culpable homicide that did not amount to murder.

Manjit Sarkar's appeal was heard by the bench of justices Michael Zothankhuma and Malasri Nandi. Sarkar argued against the lower court's decision to sentence him to life in prison for murder in his High Court filing.

The High Court bench overturned the decision to sentence the defendant to seven years of hard labor after hearing their plea and reviewing the various testimonies and supporting documentation.

According to the FIR, when the two were drinking on May 20, 2016, Sarkar fatally stabbed Utpal Chabukdhara several times. Subsequently, in November 2019, the Lakhimpur Sessions Judge judged Sarkar guilty of murder and sentenced him to life in prison.

At the Gauhati High Court, Sarkar submitted a plea. The HC bench found that while the appellant (Sarkar) had caused the deceased's death by stabbing him in the neck, there was no premeditation on the part of the appellant in taking the deceased's life. This was based on a careful consideration of all the statements made by the prosecution's witnesses.

On Friday, Senior Advocate Kardak Ete was added as a judge to the Gauhati High Court by the central government. The Ministry of Law and Justice's website provided this information.

Senior Advocate Ete was proposed by the Supreme Court Collegium on March 2, 2023. The promotion of Ete, a member of a Scheduled Tribe, will increase the diversity of the Gauhati High Court bench, according to the Collegium's resolution.

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