Can’t order probation for convict pending appeal: High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that a convict cannot be released on probation while his appeal against conviction is still pending. This decision came in the case of a person convicted under Sections 304-A and 279 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for causing a fatal accident.

The ruling by the Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma came in response to a reference questioning whether the court could exercise its jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to grant probation despite an ongoing appeal. The petitioner had sought the quashing of the FIR and the conviction, citing a compromise reached with the deceased’s legal heirs.

The court emphasised that it could not extend its jurisdiction to grant probation in light of the pending appeal, despite the compromise. The Bench asserted: “The plenitude of jurisdiction invested in this court through the provisions embodied in Section 482 of the CrPC does not leverage the convict/petitioner to claim that he be released on probation of good conduct, especially when an appeal against his conviction and sentence is yet subjudice.”

The incident that led to conviction occurred on November 2, 2013, when the petitioner’s car struck a pedestrian resulting in his death after being taken to the hospital. Following his conviction in 2016, the person filed an appeal against the sentence of two years’ rigorous imprisonment and six months’ imprisonment on separate counts.

The petitioner and the victim’s family reached a compromise during the pendency of the appeal, prompting the convict to file the petition seeking relief. But the court clarified that the issue was not whether the compromise could annul the conviction, but if it could grant probation under the prevailing legal framework, particularly considering the implications of the ongoing appeal.