The Supreme Court clarified on Tuesday that the right to seek remission for convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in gangrape cases involving minors is both a constitutional and a statutory right. Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan addressed a plea that challenged the constitutional validity of Section 376DA of the former IPC, which pertains to the punishment for gangraping a minor under 16. The counsel for an applicant seeking to be added to the case argued that the term ‘shall’ in Section 376DA indicates that the sessions court must impose life imprisonment, which equates to imprisonment for the individual’s natural life.
The bench considered two main issues: first, the punishment mandated by the provision following the sessions court trial, which can be contested in higher courts, and second, the fact that any individual receiving such a punishment retains the right to seek remission under Article 72 or Article 161 of the Constitution of India by submitting an application to the President or the Governor, as applicable. Furthermore, the court emphasized that there exists a statutory avenue for the accused to apply for remission.
Consequently, the right to seek remission is recognized as both a constitutional and a statutory right, with each state having its own remission policy that is applicable even for sentences imposed under Section 376DA or Section 376DB of the IPC.
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