Man sentenced to death for killing cop

Chandigarh, October 14

Nearly four years after a police official was shot while attempting to arrest an accused "wanted in several cases", Rewari Additional Sessions Justice Sushil Kumar Garg has awarded death sentence to the convict after asserting that "mobocracy" and violent attacks on innocent citizens have no place in a democracy "like ours".

No scope for tolerance

Many gangs are operating in this region, and crimes of murder, dacoity and extortion have become rampant. The courts cannot turn a blind eye to these crimes and need to send a strong message to the perpetrators of such crimes. No tolerance can be shown towards criminals like the convict. Justice Sushil Kumar Garg, Additional Sessions Judge, Rewari

"The pillars of democracy cannot be allowed to be crushed in this manner," Justice Garg said.

In his 29-page order on the quantum of sentence soon after convicting him of murder and other offences, Justice Garg said the convict, Naresh, was a habitual offender and fell in the category of dangerous persons as he was convicted of heinous offences in two other cases as well.

Chances of his reformation and rehabilitation were apparently absent as he had already undergone more than nine years of imprisonment in another case.

"The facts and circumstances of the present case and his past conduct reveal that the accused/convict is a continuing threat to society and incapable of reform and rehabilitation. Therefore, awarding of death sentence to him would be justified," Justice Garg said.

Justice Garg added that in the recent times, as argued by the Additional Public Prosecutor, many gangs were operating in the region. Crimes such as murder, dacoity and extortion had become rampant, and the courts, as such, could not turn a blind eye to the need for sending a strong message to the perpetrators of such crimes, he said.

"Tolerance could not be shown to people like the convict, which otherwise would shake the confidence of the people, especially in the police force and criminal justice system," Justice Garg said, adding that an attack on a police officer was an assault on the safety and security of the citizens at large.

"It was time to hold violent criminals more accountable with sentences that not only kept them off the streets, but also served as a deterrent to other offenders," he said.

Describing as unprecedented "the current attack on law enforcement", Justice Garg said extraordinary times called for swift, effective exceptional measures to stop the threat inflicted by "career criminals" possessing blatant disregard for life.

Justice Garg said the gravity and extreme brutality of the incident depicted "hair-raising beastly and unparalleled behaviour".

"The barbaric and heinous type of crime, which the convict has committed repeatedly, is a revolt against society and an affront to human dignity. I am unable to find any extenuating or mitigating circumstances whatsoever in this case. The ghastly and devilish repeated acts of the convict definitely fit this case in the bracket of rarest of rare case," Justice Garg observed.

from The Tribune https://ift.tt/CR4xoYD