New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (June 24) rejected the submissions of a person seeking exemption from arrest in a case in which he has been convicted for killing his wife on the ground that he was part of the “Operation Sindoor” and had served as a black cat commando for 20 years.
A bench comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Vinod Chandran told the counsel representing the petitioner that being part of the Operation Sindoor and having served as a black cat commando did not give him immunity from committing atrocity at home.
After the bench showed its disinclination to grant the man relief, the counsel representing the man, while seeking exemption from arrest, submitted, “I can only leave with one line, I am a participant of Operation Sindoor. For the past 20 years I am a black cat commando posted my lord in Rashtriya Rifles.”
“That (serving in Operation Sindoor) doesn’t give you immunity from committing atrocity at home. This goes to show how physically fit you are, and the manner in which alone you could have killed your wife, strangulated your wife,” the bench told the counsel, Livelaw reported.
The man moved the apex court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissing his appeal against his conviction and 10-year jail term for killing his wife under section 304B (dowry death) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). While challenging the High Court order, the man had also moved an application before the top court seeking exemption from surrender till the disposal of his appeal before the top court.
The counsel submitted that the allegation against his client was a demand of allegation and this allegation was based on statements made by two witnesses who were closely related to the deceased and their statements are highly discrepant.
“We can issue notice on the SLP (Special Leave Petition) but don’t ask us for exemption,” the bench told the counsel and said in the order, “We decline the prayer of the petitioner for exemption from surrendering. Issue notice on the SLP returnable in 6 weeks.”
After the counsel urged the court to grant the man some time to surrender, the bench granted him two weeks of time for the same.
