Court calls murder case ‘rare’, hands out 20-year rigorous imprisonment

TNN May 7, 2012

NEW DELHI: A trial court has sentenced a 29-year-old man to 20 years in jail for murdering a person after robbing him of Rs 2.5 lakh at gunpoint and injuring his son.

Terming the case "rare" and observing that the man was a "desperate" criminal for whom life had no value, additional sessions judge (ASJ) Kamini Lau ordered that convict Anil Kumar should not be given any remission till he undergoes an actual sentence of 20 years in jail. Besides the jail term, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 22,000 on him.

"I am of a considered opinion that this case cannot be put on the same pedestal as other ordinary murder cases. It is also true that punishment in every case does send a message to the community at large. Hence, this case can be easily classified as a rare case which calls for the exercise of alternative options by the court," the judge said, awarding 20 years' rigorous imprisonment to Kumar.

Kumar was facing trial for murdering Krishan Kumar Bansal and injuring his son while robbing them in daytime two years ago in the capital.

The court refused to show any leniency to Kumar, saying the courts of law cannot ignore the conditions prevailing in the country, where the law-and-order situation has deteriorated in the recent past.

"Young persons are robbing innocent victims by putting them in fear of death with indiscriminate use of dangerous weapons on them, whether or not they offer any resistance, thereby spreading terror in the society and adversely affecting the social order and faith of the people in the system," ASJ Lau said. The incident took place on May 10, 2010, when the victim's son, Nitin Bansal, came to his office in Tri Nagar here after withdrawing Rs 2.5 lakh from bank. Kumar entered Bansal's office and after brandishing a pistol, snatched the bag containing money from them and tried to flee on his motorcycle.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-05-07/delhi/31610052_1_jail-term-asj-lau-murder