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News18
a day ago
- News18
No Death Penalty, But Jail For 40 Years Sans Remission: HC On Man Who Stabbed Former Lover 45 Times
Last Updated: The court found that a standard life sentence, which could allow for remission after 14 years, would be grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the crime The Calcutta High Court has commuted the death sentence of a 24-year-old man convicted for the brutal murder of his former lover to life imprisonment without remission for 40 years. A division bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md. Shabbar Rashidi upheld the conviction of Susanta Chowdhury, who was found guilty by a fast-track court of murdering a 19-year-old college student in Behrampore, Murshidabad, in broad daylight on May 2, 2022. The trial court had sentenced him to death. The accused, enraged after the victim ended their relationship and began seeing another person, planned the crime meticulously. He purchased a knife and a toy gun from an online store and used the latter to deter bystanders during the attack. The murder took place outside the victim's rented accommodation and was captured on video by a journalist, who was among the eyewitnesses. During the trial, 34 witnesses were examined, including police officers, forensic experts, family members, and acquaintances of the victim. The post-mortem revealed 45 stab wounds, several of which were classified as defensive injuries. The CCTV footage and video recording from a mobile phone, accompanied by valid electronic evidence certificates, were accepted by the court. Biological evidence also confirmed the presence of the victim's blood on the knife, clothes, and shoes of the accused. The high court, while affirming the conviction, reconsidered the sentence. Referring to landmark decisions including Bachan Singh, Machi Singh, Santosh Bariyar, and Swamy Shraddananda, the court ruled that while the crime was undoubtedly heinous, it did not fall into the 'rarest of rare' category warranting the death penalty. The bench took note of mitigating factors, particularly the convict's age — 21 at the time of the offence — absence of a prior criminal record, and psychological assessments indicating the possibility of reformation. 'There is no material before us to suggest that the appellant is beyond reformation," the court observed, adding that 'death penalty must be imposed only when life imprisonment is unquestionably inadequate." However, the court found that a standard life sentence, which could allow for remission after 14 years, would be grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the crime. Instead, it imposed a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of remission for 40 years from the date of arrest, along with a fine of Rs 50,000. Failure to pay the fine would result in an additional five years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also upheld the conviction and sentence under Section 28 of the Arms Act for the use of an imitation firearm. First Published: June 13, 2025, 19:16 IST
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Time of India
Default bail not an option in drug cases: Calcutta HC
Kolkata: An accused in an NDPS (drug) case is not entitled to default bail if a charge sheet, even without a chemical report, is filed within time, the Calcutta High Court ruled while cancelling the interim bail granted to the legal point on whether the charge sheet without a chemical report in the NDPS case entitles the accused to statutory bail is pending before the Supreme Court. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now However, the division bench of justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi held that, as of today, the law is that a charge sheet is complete if the materials and evidence are before the court along with the charge sheet for the court to take cognisance. Filing a supplementary charge sheet to bring on the record the forensic laboratory test report is also permissible."Bombay and Guwahati HCs have held that a charge sheet without the chemical examination report does not entitle the accused to default bail. On the strength of the authorities presently subsisting, we are not in a position to return a finding that the charge sheet without the chemical examination report makes the investigation incomplete," the HC held. The four accused had applied for bail on March 26. The police had filed a charge sheet, and subsequently a supplementary charge sheet along with a chemical report. A commercial quantity of brown sugar was seized from the accused.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
SSC: Cal HC dismisses contempt plea over SC order
Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed a contempt application filed against the non-compliance of the order on the termination of services of 25,752 SSC 2016 appointees . Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A division bench of justices Debangsu Basak and Shabbar Rashidi held that since the matter was with Supreme Court, the apex court would deal with the contempt plea. These appeals involved allegations that the state education department and the SSC had failed to comply with court orders, such as uploading OMR sheets and recovering salaries from individuals whose appointments had been deemed invalid. "An order passed in writ jurisdiction is enforced through a contempt proceeding primarily on the principle that non-adherence or non-compliance with the writ issued tends to degrade the dignity and majesty of the court issuing the writ. In the... present case, the ultimate writ was issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, and therefore a contempt petition would not lie before this court to enforce such an order, unless specifically empowered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court," the division bench noted. The bench added that Article 215 of the Constitution had empowered the high court to punish for its contempt and not that of Supreme Court, without the latter's request
Hindustan Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Bengal govt questions contempt petition in teacher recruitment case in high court
Kolkata: A Calcutta high court division bench hearing the contempt petition by state-appointed schoolteachers in the bribe-for-job case on Wednesday allotted more time for hearing after the West Bengal government questioned the validity of the petition, lawyers present at the hearing said. The contempt petition was filed by a section of the 25,752 teachers and non-teaching staff appointed in 2016. On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld the high court's April 2024 order and cancelled all these appointments saying there was no way to differentiate between tainted and non-tainted appointments. On an appeal by the state, the top court directed on April 17 that non-tainted teachers may continue in service until December 31 and ordered the state to start a fresh recruitment process. 'Counsels for the state and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) told the division bench of justices Debangsu Basak and Shabbar Rashidi that the contempt petition, alleging that the 2024 high court order had been violated, was not maintainable because portions of that order were modified by the Supreme Court on April 3,' a lawyer for the state government said. 'The lawyers argued that a contempt petition can be moved only before the Supreme Court since the latter modified some of the directions of the high court,' the lawyer added. The division bench will hear the matter again on April 28. Claiming to be eligible appointees, the petitioners alleged that WBSSC and the state government violated the high court's April 2024 order by not publishing the optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets of the candidates who appeared for the selection test in 2016. The state told the court in 2024 that the original OMR sheets were destroyed a year after the appointments following standard procedure. The petitioners have claimed that soft copies of the OMR sheets are available on three hard disks that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recovered after it started probing the alleged appointment scam following the high court's 2022 order. Eligible and tainted appointees could be detected only if the OMR sheets were made public, the petition has said. The teachers have started a fresh agitation outside the WBSSC office since Monday with this demand. On Tuesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to them to return to work saying her government would file a review petition before the Supreme Court. 'Please go home. We are filing a review petition. Let the government do its job. You are getting your salary. Have faith in the government. Don't be misled,' Banerjee said at an administrative meeting in East Midnapore district. Her appeal, however, had no effect on the agitators. The agitation continued on Wednesday.
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
West Bengal school jobs case: State education dept questions maintainability of contempt petition before Calcutta HC
At a Calcutta High Court hearing of a contempt petition pertaining to the Supreme Court order on the West Begnal SSC judgment, the West Bengal Education Department on April 23 questioned before the Calcutta High Court the maintainability of the petition that claimed non-compliance of its order regarding 26,000 school jobs in the state. The petitioners argued that the Education Department has not made available the OMR sheets for the 26,000 teaching and non-teaching positions that were affected by a Supreme Court ruling, which upheld the high court's decree with certain adjustments. During the proceedings, the education department's attorney addressed a division bench of justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi, asserting that due to the Supreme Court's alterations to some of the high court's directives, any contempt petition should be directed to the Supreme Court itself. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Belgaum: The price (& size) of these hearing aids might surprise you Learn More Undo Similarly, the legal representative for the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) also contested the legitimacy of bringing the contempt application before the high court based on the same rationale. On the other hand, the lawyer for the petitioners contended that it is indeed permissible to file a contempt petition in the high court since the Supreme Court's modifications did not significantly change the instructions initially set by the high court. Live Events The court has scheduled another hearing for the matter on the upcoming Monday. The petitioners expressed their grievances regarding the breach of the ruling issued by the high court on April 22, 2024, which was subsequently modified by the Supreme Court on April 3 and April 17 of this year. They filed the contempt petition in response to the claim that the OMR sheets stored on three hard disks have not been uploaded to the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) website "forthwith," as mandated by the division bench's order for public access.
