Two brothers serving life term released on probation

Mumbai, June 25 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today released two persons, sons of a rickshaw driver, by giving them benefit under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, and also reduced the life sentence awarded by the trial court to five years rigorous imprisonment on a bond of Rs 10,000 each.

The accused -- Alankar and Omkar -- along with their father Mohan Rawat were convicted for murdering a watchman Jitendra Yadav and were sentenced to life imprisonment last year.

The watchman was murdered on December 3, 2005 after a quarrel broke out between Mohan and Yadav over the parking of Mohan's rickshaw which soon turned into an ugly fight between them. Later, Mohan joined the fight after hearing altercations between the two.

In the melee, Yadav was killed.

All of them were serving their sentence in the Kolhapur Prison as the trial court had convicted and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

In the appeal against the conviction, a division bench comprising Justice B H Marlapalle and Justice R S Mohite took into consideration the fact that no external injury was caused to the deceased and and the death was result of a sudden quarrel and found it unsafe to believe that intention of the accused was to cause death. The court held that it cannot be said that the assault was with knowledge that the blows would kill the deceased. Hence the court has converted the conviction of all the three for culpable homicide death not amounting to murder and sentenced them to five years rigirous imprisonment.

The court released the two brothers, considering their ages and the fact that they had no criminal antecedants giving them benefit under Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 on a bond of Rs 10,000 each.

As a condition imposed by the court both of them will have to keep peace and good behavior for three years and also report to supervising probation officer once every month.

UNI