Lakhan Bhaiya: Order stayed in fake encounter case

The Bombay high court on Monday granted an ad-interim stay on an order, which was passed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government suspending the life sentence for 11 policemen convicted for murder in a fake encounter case for a period of six months. The court has asked these policemen to surrender before the concerned court on or before January 4, 2016.

The division bench of Justice R.V. More and Justice V.L. Achilya granted stay on the government order while hearing a petition filed by advocate Ramprasad Gupta, brother of Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiya, claiming that the decision taken by the government is in violation of provisions of the law because, as per Section 433A of Code of Criminal Procedure, the government cannot suspend the sentence of those convicted for crimes for which the maximum punishment is death till they complete 14 years of imprisonment.

Advocate Yug Mohit Choudhary, on behalf of the petitioner, argued that the government could not take such a decision while the appeal filed by the convicts is already pending before the high court. The petition said that the government’s decision was illegal, null, void, bad in law, perverse, unreasonable, arbitrary, cryptic, vague and liable to be quashed and set aside.

In the meantime, the policemen’s counsel Girish Godbole and prosecutor Usha Kejriwal argued before the court that the government did not err while taking this decision and the court should hear final arguments on the matter instead of granting an interim stay.

The court, however, posted the matter for final hearing on March 7 next year after granting interim stay on the government decision.

Justice More was of the opinion that the government cannot take a decision on suspension in a case where a public servant has been convicted on a charge punishable with death. Such a suspension amounts to release of a convict from prison, he said. Justice Achilya said, “There are hundreds of prisoners who are suffering from serious medical ailments. The government should also consider their cases for such suspension of sentence orders.”

A sessions court had earlier convicted 21 people in the case, including the 11 policemen, and awarded them life imprisonment, while acquitting only encounter specialist Pradip Sharma in July 2013.