Kerala HC declines to suspend sentence in actress assault case

The Kerala High Court has declined to suspend the sentence of the prime accused in the 2017 actress assault case, in view of the seriousness of the crime committed by him, his criminal antecedents and violation of bail conditions.

A bench of justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar also said that it took into account the societal impact of the offence and the need to preserve public confidence in the administration of criminal justice to deny the relief to the accused — Sunil N S, also known as Pulsar Suni.

Sunil had sought suspension of his sentence and his release on bail during pendency of his appeal challenging his conviction and 20-year sentence in the actress assault case.

Rejecting his plea, the bench said it had considered the role attributed to the applicant, Sunil, the nature of the offence, the manner in which it was committed, the gravity and seriousness of the crime, the sentence imposed by the trial court, and his criminal antecedents in as many as 11 serious cases.

It also took into account his alleged involvement in another criminal case while he was on bail in the present case and his violation of the bail conditions imposed by the court.

The bench said no exceptional circumstances had been made out to warrant the suspension of his sentence. In his application, Sunil had contended that he has already undergone nearly eight years of imprisonment in the case.

The court, however, was of the view that the crime was a “calculated and premeditated act” which shows an “extraordinary degree of criminal depravity” and the manner in which it was committed was “unprecedented”. “Its gravity extends beyond the individual victim, as it strikes at the dignity, bodily autonomy, and sense of security of women. It would also undermine public confidence in the rule of law and the administration of criminal justice. In that view of the matter, the long incarceration cannot by itself constitute a ground for suspension of sentence under section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” the bench said.

Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) allows an Appellate Court to suspend a convicted person’s sentence and release them on bail pending their appeal.

The High Court also held that Sunil has not been able to point out “any patent infirmity, manifest illegality, or perversity” in the judgment of the Sessions Judge.

“At this interlocutory stage, we are unable to conclude that the findings recorded by the Sessions Judge are so unreasonable or perverse as to justify suspension of the execution of the sentence. In such circumstances, we are of the considered view that the applicant (Sunil) has failed to make out any exceptional or sufficient grounds warranting the suspension of the execution of the sentence imposed by the trial court,” it said.

The sessions court had on December 12 last year, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment six persons, including Sunil, for the offence of gang rape. Actor Dileep and three other accused were acquitted in the case.

The case relates to the abduction and sexual assault of a multilingual actress in a moving vehicle while she was travelling from Thrissur to Kochi on February 17, 2017.