THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Supreme court order in a criminal case, upholding a lower court order that awarded rigorous imprisonment to a convict, has been virtually sabotaged by the government. The convict who was supposed to undergo a two-year rigorous imprisonment has been ‘saved’ as he managed to forgo imprisonment by paying a fine of Rs One lakh. According to sources, this was made possible by the chief minister and home minister who legally had to close the case.
It was David Laly who was lucky to get this concession. In 1987, in a non-billable criminal case registered by Malayinkeezhu police Station, he was awarded 2-yr imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1000 was levied on him by Neyyattinkara Magistrate court. Though the convict had gone for appeal in the district court and high court, it was rejected and the apex court had upheld that. And interestingly, in 26 years, he didn’t undergo imprisonment for not even a single day.
As per CRPC 433 (D) rules, the government has the right to cancel a punishment, provided the circumstances make it unavoidable. Though David had pointed out his health reasons, it was not accepted by the Home department officials. But the law department explained that there wasn’t any legal obstacle in cancelling the punishment. After this, the chief minister and home minister signed the files, which cancelled the punishment and disposed the case.
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