The sentences of Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Singh Malik, and Ajay Kumar were suspended by a bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain while their appeals challenging their conviction and sentence were pending. The high court took a note that the convicts have served 14 years in the prison and gave the Delhi Police until January 23 to respond to the appeals filed by the four men who were found guilty.
Soumya Vishwanathan was shot and killed in the early hours of September 30, 2008, on Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi, while she was driving home from work. She was employed by a major English news channel.
The convicts and their court sentences.
On November 26, 2023, Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar were given two life sentences by a special court under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for murder and Section 3(1)(i) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for committing organised crime that results in the death of any person.
It had been made clear by the court that the sentences would be served “consecutively”.
Under the IPC’s section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property), Ajay Sethi, the fifth guilty party, was sentenced to three years of simple imprisonment.
Nonetheless, it deducted Sethi’s three-year sentence from the time he had already served, pointing out that he had spent more than 14 years in custody and had been imprisoned during the trial for offences against the IPC and MCOCA, including receiving proceeds from organised crime and conspiring to abet, aid, or knowingly facilitate it.
Plea for revoking the life sentences.
During the appeal process, Kapoor’s attorney requested that the court revoke his sentence, citing the fact that his client has been detained for the past 14 years and nine months.
Advocate Amit Kumar, who prayed for a similar sentence suspension on behalf of Shukla, Malik, and Ajay Kumar, also made this request. The trial court fined each of Kapoor, Shukla, Malik, and Kumar Rs. 1.25 lakh in addition to sentencing them to double life in prison. Sethi had been fined ₹7.25 lakh by it.
In light of the seriousness of Kapoor’s offences, the high court recently denied him parole. Among the four convicted, Jigisha Ghosh, an IT professional, was also found to have been killed by Kapoor, Shukla, and Malik. The weapon used to kill Viswanathan was found to be in the possession of the trio, who later admitted to police that they were also responsible for her death and the reason behind her murder was given to be robbery.
Convicts were found guilty for both the incidents and were sentenced.
In the 2009 Jigisha Ghosh murder case, the trial court had given the death penalty to Kapoor and Shukla and sentenced Malik to life in prison. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court changed the death penalty to life in prison. Malik’s life sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.
The prosecution claims that while pursuing Vishwanathan’s car to rob her, Kapoor shot her with a country-made handgun. Kapoor had Shukla, Kumar, and Malik with him as well. The car used in the murder was found by police from Sethi, also known as Chacha.
by Swapnil Angel Samad