New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to a man convicted of killing his father, noting that he has already served nearly five years of his 10-year sentence awarded by the Chhattisgarh High Court.  A Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order while hearing the petitioner’s special leave petition (SLP) challenging his conviction. “Having regard to the facts of the case and the period of sentence already undergone, we deem it appropriate to suspend the sentence awarded by the High Court during the pendency of this appeal,” the apex court observed.

The case arose from an incident in which the appellant – Vijay Thakur– allegedly assaulted his father with a wooden stick, leading to his death. The trial court had convicted him under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, the Chhattisgarh High Court, in its judgment passed in April last year, modified the conviction to one under Section 304 Part-I IPC, reducing the sentence to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Sonia Mathur argued that the accused had already served almost four years and eleven months of his sentence and sought suspension of the remaining period pending appeal. “It is submitted that by now the appellant has already served almost 5 years (4 years 11 months) of the sentence. In such circumstances, it has been prayed that the sentence awarded to the appellant be suspended and the appellant be released on bail during the pendency of the appeal,” the order recorded.

Granting relief, the Justice Misra-led Bench directed that the appellant be released on bail “on such terms and conditions as the trial court may deem fit to impose in the facts and circumstances of the case.” The apex court also noted that despite its earlier order, directing the lower courts to submit the case records, “as per the Office Report, records are still awaited.”