O Monday, the Supreme Court of Idia held that the India lacks a formal statutory penal policy. Instead, the country relies on a well-established practice of considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances when determining the appropriate punishment in legal verdicts.

On this basis, the Supreme Court reduced the sentence of five years rigorous imprisonment awarded by the Allahabad High Court in April, 2019 to three years rigorous imprisonment in a 1984 murder case.

A division bench of Justices AS Oka and Sanjay Karol noted that the appellant Pramod Kumar Mishra has no previous criminal record and it cannot be said that he has done anything in a premeditated manner.

While giving its verdict on Monday, the Bench said that till date India does not have any statutory penal provision of its own. The court has passed the sentence after examining the motive of the crime. This factor should be kept in mind while sentencing.

Referring to the murder case, the bench noted that 39 years have passed since the crime. Two accused were acquitted by the trial court. Therefore, in the interest of justice, the Supreme Court is reducing this sentence to three years rigorous imprisonment.

However, the Court directed appellant to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to the complainant within six weeks. According to the prosecution, the FIR against three people was registered in August 1984. This victim was killed by three people while trying to destroy the crops of the accused.