The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected Sanji Ram’s plea to suspend his life sentence in the 2018 Kathua rape-murder case. The Court held he does not deserve the “concession of suspension of sentence at this stage” and dismissed his application.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to suspend the life sentence of Sanji Ram, a former temple caretaker who was convicted in the 2018 Kathua rape and murder case. The Court made it clear that, at this stage, he does not deserve any relief in the form of suspension of his sentence.
A bench of Justices Gurvinder Singh Gill and Ramesh Kumari passed this order on March 6, and the decision was made public earlier this week. The Court dismissed Ram’s application seeking suspension of his sentence while his appeal is pending.
Sanji Ram was earlier convicted by a Pathankot sessions court in 2019 and sentenced to life imprisonment. In the same case, his nephew Parvesh Kumar and a special police officer, Deepak Khajuria, were also awarded life sentences for their involvement in the crime.
While rejecting the plea, the High Court stated,
“Without commenting on the merits of the case,” it was of the view “that it is not a case where the applicant/appellant deserves the concession of suspension of sentence at this stage”.
The Court further concluded,
“The application, as such, is dismissed,”
making it clear that no interim relief would be granted.
However, the Court did take note of the fact that Ram has already spent a significant period in custody. It directed that his main appeal should be listed for final hearing in September, indicating that the case will be examined in detail at that time.
The case dates back to January 2018, when an eight-year-old girl from a nomadic community was abducted in Kathua. As per the chargesheet filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch in April 2018, the child was kept inside a village temple, drugged repeatedly, sexually assaulted over several days, and then murdered.
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During the hearing, senior advocate Vinod Ghai, appearing for Sanji Ram, argued that the prosecution had examined as many as 114 witnesses but failed to produce strong and direct evidence connecting Ram to the crime. He also highlighted that Ram has already been in jail for more than eight years.
On the other hand, senior advocate R. S. Cheema, appearing for the State, strongly opposed the plea for suspension of sentence. He relied on the findings of the trial court and the evidence presented during the trial.
He submitted,
“It has been submitted that since upon findings of guilt having been recorded by the trial court, the presumption of innocence of the applicant is no longer available to him, the applicant does not deserve to be released on bail”.
Apart from the main accused, the trial court had also sentenced three police officials to five years of imprisonment for their role in attempting to cover up the crime and destroying evidence. Meanwhile, Vishal, the son of Sanji Ram, was acquitted by the court.
In its 2019 judgment, the sessions court, presided over by Judge Tejwinder Singh, had made strong observations about the nature of the crime.
The court stated:
“In the present case, facts are many but truth is one that under a criminal conspiracy, an innocent eight-year-old minor girl has been kidnapped, wrongfully confined, drugged, raped and ultimately murdered. The perpetrators of this crime have acted in such a manner as if there is a ‘law of jungle’ prevalent in the society.”
The judge had also quoted a couplet by Mirza Ghalib:
“Pinha tha daam-e-sakht qareeb ashiyaan ke, udhne hi nahi paye the ki girftar hum hue”.
The crime was described by the court as “devilish and monstrous”, carried out in a “shameful, inhumane and barbaric manner”.
The Kathua case had led to massive public outrage across the country in 2018. Due to concerns about fairness and delays in the investigation, the Supreme Court later transferred the trial from Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot and directed that the case be heard on a day-to-day basis to ensure speedy justice.
With the High Court now refusing to suspend Sanji Ram’s sentence, the focus will shift to the final hearing of his appeal, which is expected to take place later this year.
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