On Monday, the Bombay High Court refused to suspend the life sentence or provide bail to artist Chintan Upadhyay.

He was found guilty of aiding and plotting the murder of his estranged wife, Hema Upadhyay, and her lawyer Haresh Bhambani back in December 2015.

In October, Mr. Upadhyay approached the high court to contest a sessions court ruling that found him guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

In his appeal, Mr. Upadhyay argued that the trial court's judgment was flawed, lacking substantial and coherent evidence or reasoning to justify his conviction.

While awaiting the hearing for his appeal, Upadhyay had requested the High Court to temporarily suspend his sentence and grant him bail.

However, a division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse dismissed Mr. Upadhyay's plea on Monday. The High Court will proceed with the hearing for Mr. Upadhyay's appeal against the conviction order at the appropriate time.

In a recent development, a sessions court in the area had convicted Chintan Upadhyay and three other individuals earlier this month. The court acknowledged the brutality of the double murder but did not consider it to be a "rarest of rare" offense that would merit the death penalty.

On December 11, 2015, Hema and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani were murdered, their bodies concealed in cardboard boxes and discarded in a ditch in Mumbai's Kandivali area.

Additional sessions judge S Y Bhosale from the Dindoshi court, on October 5, pronounced Chintan guilty of abetting and conspiring in the killing of his wife.