Lokmat News Network
Aurangabad, Dec 23: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court (HC) comprising Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice B U Debadwar has commuted the capital punishment of a double murder convict of Jalna district to life imprisonment.
The convict has been identified as Krishna Seetaram Pawar (Yawalpimpari Tanda in Ghansawangi tehsil of Jalna district). He had stabbed his mother-in-law Sumanbai and his pregnant wife Lalita over a family dispute which left Sumanbai and Lalita’s unborn child dead. The crime took place in full public view in Dr Ambedkar Chowk of Ambad at 2 pm on October 24, 2015. Krishna also stabbed Sumanbai’s sister Alkabai with a knife, but she and Lalita survived. A Jalna sessions court on June 18, 2020 awarded him the capital punishment for murdering Sumanbai, life imprisonment for attempting to murder Lalita and Alka. He was also sentenced to seven-year rigorous imprisonment for murdering the unborn child and slapped with a fine of Rs 1,000 each in two cases.
He challenged the decisions of the Jalna court in the HC bench. The latter upheld the financial penalty and life imprisonment of Krishna but commuted the capital punishment to life imprisonment.
Senior counsel Rajendra Deshmukh appeared for the convict while prosecutor Kishor Hoke Patil represented the state in the case.
Punish PWs for false deposition
The bench observed that four prosecution witnesses (PWs) turned hostile and gave false deposition even after taking oath during the trial in the Jalna court. Therefore, they should be punished. The copies of this judgement will be forwarded to the principal district and sessions judges of all courts of Maharashtra. The HC expressed its displeasure over the investigating officer for loose and insensitive investigation of the crime.