In a surprising turn of events, the Supreme Court criticized a decision made by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to impose varying jail terms on individuals convicted of the same offense in the case of Uggarsain v. State of Haryana and Others. The apex court described the sentencing as "inexplicable" and "downright bizarre" due to the lack of distinction in the roles played by the convicts.

The case revolved around the conviction of eight individuals who formed an unlawful assembly and were involved in the killing of a person using deadly weapons. The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Dutta, examined an appeal against the High Court's decision.

The Supreme Court noted that there was virtually no discernible difference in the roles played by each convicted person. However, the High Court had imposed significantly divergent sentences, ranging from a 9-year jail term to a 3-year term and even an 11-month term for some of the convicts.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the High Court's reasoning, the Supreme Court highlighted the lack of a clear rationale for the wide disparity in sentences. The court emphasized that the evidence did not provide an opportunity for the High Court to differentiate between the accused based on their roles.

The bench concluded that the High Court had erred in its approach by failing to consider the gravity of the crime. The reduction of sentences for certain convicts to the jail term already served was deemed flawed and an aberration by the Supreme Court. Consequently, the apex court imposed a uniform sentence of 5 years of rigorous imprisonment for all the convicts, taking into account the overall circumstances.

While affirming the sentences already undergone by some of the convicts, who had served a longer period of imprisonment according to previous court orders, the Supreme Court clarified that their cases remained unaffected by the judgment.

The appeals were partly allowed by the Supreme Court, which intervened to rectify the disparate sentencing in the Uggarsain v. State of Haryana and Others case.

Case Title: Uggarsain v. State of Haryana and Others.