HC sets aside death sentence of militant, awards 10 years imprisonment

Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Feb 24: High Court today set aside death sentence of militant awarded to him by a Sessions court for killing a man.
A Division Bench of  High Court Comprising Justices Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Mohammad Yaqoob Mir set aside the death sentence awarded by Principal Sessions Court Kathua to Mohammad Shabir, convicted of killing a man in Bani area of Kathua district.
The Bench said that awarding of death sentence in the facts and circumstances of the case was impermissible. “Present case even otherwise by any standard on the strength of the evidence as produced and manner in which offence has been committed does not fall within the ambit of rarest of rare case,” the Bench said.
The Court said the judgment and order of sentence impugned are not in consonance with law.
The court while passing the judgment said the accused Mohammad Shabir is convicted and sentenced for having committed offence punishable under Section 304-II RPC for which he shall be imprisoned for ten years with fine of Rs. 15,000.
“For committing offence under Section 460 RPC, he shall undergo ten years imprisonment, and for offence under Section 5/27 (1) Arms Act. All these sentences shall run concurrently,” the Bench said.
The convicted Shabir had killed a man for labeling him as a worker of CID in 2011 in Kathua area. The court acquitted Raj Din and Nazir Ahmad saying there is no evidence against these two.