State of Madhya Pradesh vs Vikram Das - Important Supreme Court Judgment 2019

 State of Madhya Pradesh vs Vikram Das - Important Supreme Court Judgment 2019

On 8th February, 2019, in the case of State of Madhya Pradesh v. Vikram Das [Criminal Appeal No. 208 of 2019], wherein the High Court, vide the impugned judgment, had sentenced the respondent for offence under Section 3(1)(xi) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to the sentence already undergone, the question for consideration was whether the High Court could award sentence less than the minimum sentence contemplated by the Statute.

The Supreme Court held that “where minimum sentence is provided for, the Court cannot impose less than the minimum sentence.” It was further held that “provisions of Article 142 of the Constitution cannot be resorted to impose sentence less than the minimum sentence.”