High Court commutes life sentence of BSF constable

The court directed for his release as the sentence was reduced to 10 years and the constable had already served 11 years of imprisonment. 

MP, 15 Feb 2024, Kolkata :  The Calcutta High Court recently commuted the life sentence of a Border Security Force (BSF) constable who fired 20 rounds of bullets resulting in the death of a civilian. 

The court directed for his release as the sentence was reduced to 10 years and the constable had already served 11 years of imprisonment. 

Earlier, the constable was charged under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 

Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta commuted it to Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to culpable homicide) of IPC. Since he had already served 11 years of imprisonment, Justice Gupta directed for his release. 

The petitioner, constable Vijay Prakash, was convicted of the offence and attempted murder for the 20 rounds of bullets which led to the death of a boy. The incident took place on December 1, 2010. 

It was submitted that Prakash and another constable had stopped at a civilian shop near their base. It was submitted that the commander was informed of Prakash standing at the shop in an intoxicated state by the other constable who had returned to the base and his colleagues were sent to bring him back, when they saw him get into an argument with the shopkeeper. 

It was submitted that when Prakash was informed that the matter was reported to the Adjutant of the unit, he got infuriated, loaded his personal weapon and fired towards the shop. He was charged under Section 46 of the BSF Act and the GSF Court sentenced him to life imprisonment and directed his dismissal from service. 

The counsel representing the petitioner argued that the plea was dismissed without giving any opportunity to the petitioner to be heard. It was argued that the prosecution had failed to prove that the petitioner was under the influence of alcohol and that the victim died due to delay in taking him to the hospital. 

It was also submitted that the altercation took place after the personnel informed higher officials of the false allegation against Prakash and that he was provoked. 

It was observed that the altercation between the shopkeeper and the petitioner in an intoxicated state was not proven and there was no evidence showing that the petitioner was intoxicated at the time. 

The court noted that the doctor who conducted the autopsy of the victim testified that the nature of the bullet wound could not have caused an instant death. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/high-court-commutes-life-sentence-of-bsf-constable-552180