Delhi HC grants benefit of Section 427 Cr.P.C. in rape & abetment of suicide case, sentences to run concurrently

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has granted the benefit of Section 427 Cr.P.C. to a man convicted of rape and abetment of suicide, ruling that the causal facts giving rise to the two offenses were intrinsically intertwined and could not be segregated into two distinct sets.

Section 427 Cr.P.C. allows a subsequent sentence of imprisonment to commence at the expiration of the previous term of imprisonment, unless the court directs that it shall run concurrently.

The court noted that the jurisdiction conferred by this provision is discretionary and can be exercised by it.

Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was hearing an application by the appellant-accused, who requested that his two sentences -- one for rape (S. 376 IPC) and the other for abetment of suicide (S. 306 IPC) -- be directed to run concurrently instead of consecutively.

The appellant had already served more than seven and half years of imprisonment and stated that if his request for a sentence conversion was granted, he would not pursue the appeal.

After analysing the facts of the case, the court concluded that the deceased's suicide was a consequence of the trauma, humiliation, and shame she felt during the period when the appellant committed the offense under section 376 IPC.

The prosecution's case did not suggest that the deceased committed suicide due to an independent or unconnected factor unrelated to the appellant or the offense under section 376 IPC.

The case was registered following the suicide of a 30-year-old married woman who worked with the appellant and was allegedly raped by him on multiple occasions.

The appellant was convicted, and his sentences were initially ordered to run consecutively.

The appellant's argument that the suicide of the deceased was directly related to the alleged offense under section 376 IPC, and thus, the two offenses were part of the same transaction, was accepted by the court.

The court granted the appellant's request for the benefit of Section 427 Cr.P.C. and dismissed the appeal as not pursued.