Only High Courts, Supreme Court can order life imprisonment till death: Karnataka High Court

Bengaluru (Same Day): The Karnataka High Court has ruled that the power to impose a sentence of “life imprisonment till the end of natural life, without remission” rests exclusively with the High Courts and the Supreme Court, and not with trial courts such as Sessions Courts.

The observation was made while hearing a criminal appeal arising out of a case from Shivamogga district, in which a Sessions Court had sentenced the accused, Rudresh, to life imprisonment till death for the murder of a minor child, explicitly denying the benefit of remission.

Setting aside that portion of the sentence, the High Court held that a Sessions Court lacks the jurisdiction to prescribe a punishment that forecloses the statutory right of remission. The court clarified that while trial courts are empowered to award life imprisonment, they cannot direct that the convict shall remain in prison for the remainder of his natural life without any possibility of sentence reduction.

The Bench noted that the authority to impose such an exceptional and stringent punishment has been judicially recognised as lying only with constitutional courts — the High Courts and the Supreme Court — in appropriate cases, after due consideration of the facts and circumstances.

Accordingly, the High Court modified the sentence imposed by the Sessions Court, holding that only “ordinary life imprisonment” could be awarded at the trial court level, leaving questions of remission and the imposition of imprisonment till death to be decided by higher courts.

The ruling reiterates the settled legal position on sentencing powers in criminal cases and underscores the limits of jurisdiction of subordinate courts while dealing with serious offences.