New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the life sentence on a man who killed another person as he was enraged over the latter taming a bull heroically in the traditional bull fight festival held annually in Tamil Nadu during the pongal festival.
A bench of justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla rejected the plea of the convict Arumugan that he was innocent and even assuming that he had killed Sankar, it would only attract the provision of IPC Section 304-Part II attracting a maximum 10 years RI.
"When the said piece of evidence is analysed, along with the alleged occurrence that took place on 04.02.2000, it is crystal clear that the appellant had an axe to grind against the deceased which he got fulfilled by executing the same by inflicting a fatal injury on the deceased and that caused the death of the deceased.
"When such is the clear evidence available on record, there is no scope to apply Section 304 part II of IPC or by way of mitigatory factor to dilute the rigour of the criminal act committed by the appellant.
"We, therefore, do not find any scope to alter the sentence as pleaded on behalf of the appellant. We find no merit in the appeal and the same is dismissed, "Justice Kalifulla, writing the judgement, said.
According to the prosecution, Sankar managed to tame the bull of Armugan in the "jallu kattu" festival and won the prize money, which enraged him. He allegedly hatched a conspiracy with five others and attacked the deceased with lethal weapons on January 9, 2000, resulting in his death.
The trial court had awarded life imprisonment to Arumugan and another person Sakthivel. However, the high court acquitted Sakthivel but upheld the conviction of Arumugam, following which he filed the appeal in the apex court.
The apex court had recently issued a series of directions to Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the bull fight festival is conducted with several rules and regulations to avoid casualties to animals, participants and large number of spectators.
PTI
