Death row convict gets life

Chennai: Modifying the death sentence awarded to an accused in a murder case to that of life sentence, the Madras High Court has directed that the accused should serve a minimum period of 25 years in prison during which period he will not be entitled to any statutory remission or commutation.

Passing orders on an appeal from convict K. Ramajayam alias Appu and referred trial, a division bench comprising Justices R. Sudhakar and P.N. Prakash specifically held that the sentences imposed for the offences under section 449, 392 and 302 IPC shall run consecutively and not concurrently.

The accused will first undergo the sentence of 10 years RI for the offence under section 449 IPC and on expiry of the said period, he will serve the sentence of 10 years RI for the offence under section 392 IPC and on expiry of the same, he shall serve life imprisonment, the bench added.

Deceased Gunaram was running a pawn broker shop, “Balaji Pawn Brokers” in Sakthi Nagar in Nerkundram. He was found dead in his shop around 3.30 pm on April 14, 2012.

On a complaint from his brother Dhanaram, the Maduravoyal police registered a case under various provisions of IPC including 302 (murder) and arrested Ramajayam.

The charge against the accused was that he had trespassed into the shop, murdered the deceased Gunaram and stole the jewels kept in the showcase.

After trial, the III Additional District and Sessions court in Tiruvallur district had on January 21, 2015 convicted and sentenced the accused to death. Challenging this order, the accused preferred the current appeal while the lower court referred the matter to the high court for confirmation of the sentence.

Modifying the death sentence to that of life sentence, the bench said, “In this case, the manner in which the crime was committed may shake our conscience. But, there is no material produced by the prosecution to show that the criminal is a menace to the society.”