In CRL. A. 159/2016 -DEL HC- Delhi High Court exercises discretion to convert consecutive sentences to concurrent sentences; Holds deceased committed suicide because of the trauma, humiliation & shame caused by the accused's repeated rape
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela [31-10-2023]

Read Order: Ajay Kumar V. The State NCT of Delhi

Chahat Varma

New Delhi, November 1, 2023: In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has converted consecutive sentences into concurrent sentences in a case involving rape and suicide. The court held that the two offenses were interconnected and that the suicide was a result of the trauma, humiliation, and shame that the victim felt after being raped.

In the case at hand, the applicant/appellant was originally sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) with a fine of Rs. 1,00,000 for offenses under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), and 7 years of RI with a fine of Rs. 50,000 for the offense under Section 306 IPC. The sentences were ordered to run consecutively. The applicant/appellant had already served a total sentence of 7 years, 7 months, and 25 days. He requested the court to convert the consecutive sentences into concurrent sentences, expressing his willingness to accept the punishment without pursuing the appeal if the court granted this conversion.

The relevant facts of the case involved the unfortunate and untimely demise of a young lady namely 'P', who is stated to have committed suicide. The prosecution alleged that the accused had committed forcible sexual intercourse with the deceased on several occasions and upon feeling unable to narrate the rape incident to anybody on account of shame and also upon the instigation and threats of the accused that he would show her obscene video to everybody, if she did not oblige her, she committed suicide by hanging.

The single-judge bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela noted that it had the discretion to convert consecutive sentences into concurrent sentences under Section 427 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.). It also observed that one of the primary principles for exercising this discretion was whether the two offenses are interconnected with the facts of a particular case in a way that the court could reasonably conclude they formed a single unitary aspect, despite being distinct offenses.

The bench observed that in the present case, although the two offenses were distinct and may have occurred at different times, the causal facts that gave rise to these offenses were intricately interconnected and interwoven in such a way that they could not be separated.

“This of course is not to say that the offences alleged and proved against the applicant/appellant are less heinous or are condonable,” added the bench.

The bench found that the deceased's suicide was a direct result of the trauma, humiliation, and shame she experienced while the accused was raping her over a period of time. The prosecution did not argue that the deceased committed suicide for any other reason, unrelated to the accused or the rape. Rather, the prosecution's case was that the rape, committed over time by the accused, led to the deceased taking the tragic step of taking her own life.

This above analysis led the court to apply the provisions of section 427 Cr.P.C., 1973 to the present case. As a result, the benefit of this provision was granted to the applicant/appellant, and consequently, the sentences imposed by the Trial Court for offenses under Section 376 and Section 306 IPC, which were originally ordered to run ‘consecutively’, were now directed to run ‘concurrently’.