HC Rejects CRPF Jawan’s Plea in 4-Killing Case: ‘No Excuse for Inhuman Act

The Chhattisgarh High Court has rejected the criminal appeal of CRPF constable Sant Kumar, convicted of killing four colleagues. The court made a clear comment that the difficult and stressful circumstances of duty do not give anyone the right to take such an inhuman step. The court admitted that the testimony of the injured eyewitness has great legal importance and unless there is any serious contradiction or inconsistency in it, it cannot be rejected.

This decision was given by the High Court's division bench Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice BD Guru. The court admitted that there is no legal error in the sentence given by the trial court after convicting Sant Kumar under Section 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

What is the matter?

Sant Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was posted as a constable in the CRPF battalion and was on duty at Basaguda Camp in Bastar district. On 9 December 2017, at around 4:30 pm, he had a dispute with Sub-Inspector Vicky Sharma over duty hours and responsibilities. The dispute escalated so much that Sant Kumar fired indiscriminately at Vicky Sharma, ASI Rajiv Singh and Constable Megh Singh with his service rifle AK-47, killing all three on the spot.

During the incident, SI Gajanand Singh was injured, who somehow managed to escape. After this, Sant Kumar also fired at Constable Shankar Rao, who was hiding in the recreation room, killing him as well. In this way, a total of four people lost their lives and one was seriously injured.

After the incident, Sant Kumar was arrested and the judicial process began. The trial court found him guilty and sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment under different sections, against which he filed an appeal in the High Court.

Strict comments of the court
The High Court said in its decision that the working conditions of the armed forces are certainly difficult and soldiers often have to face stress, health risks and life threats. But these challenges do not mean that a soldier kills his colleagues.
The court also clarified that the act committed by Sant Kumar does not in any way fall under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, rather it is a deliberate, cruel and serious crime.