New Delhi: The Supreme Court has set a six-month deadline to decide an appeal filed by former Jharkhand Congress MLA Sawana Lakra against the life sentence in a case of honour killing.
A bench of Justices Adarsh K Goel and Uday U Lalit asked the Jharkhand High Court to decide Lakra’s appeal against conviction and sentence within six months.
“We request the High Court to decide the appeal as far as possible within six months from the date of receipt of this order,” said the court in a recent order.
The bench passed this order as it refused to suspend Lakra’s sentence and release him on bail. It noted that there was no ground made out to keep his sentence in abeyance but the court could request the High Court concerned to speed up the appeal pending since 2013 in view of the advanced age of the convict. Lakra is a septuagenarian.
Lakra, along with his driver, bodyguard and a domestic help, was convicted by a Ranchi court in May 2013 for the murder of 21-year-old Avinash Tiwari, who was reportedly in love with the niece of the then Congress legislator.
Tiwari, a resident of Garwah district, went missing April 24, 2011. He had left for Ranchi, and was allegedly abducted by the legislator's men. Three days later, Tiwari's bullet-riddled body was found in Khuti district of the state.
Tiwari's father had alleged that his son was abducted by Lakra and his henchmen and that it was a case of honour killing.
The trial court awarded life imprisonment to Lakra and the three others convicted in the murder case. Subsequently, they filed appeal in the Jharkhand High Court.
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