Gender not a ground for lenient punishment: SC

Noting that women were at times surpassing men in the criminal world, the Supreme Court of India has said gender cannot be a ground for leniency in punishing a convict.

“Women are competing with men in the criminal world; they are emulating them in all the crimes; and even surpassing men at times. Therefore, concept of criminal justice is not necessarily synonymous with social justice,” a Bench headed by Justice AK Sikri said.

It set aside an order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court which had reduced the sentence of the woman convict with three minor children in an attempt to murder case from two-year imprisonment to a fine of Rs 30,000. It restored the two-year jail term, saying the trial court had taken a lenient view.

Noting that the Supreme Court has in the past used gender as a relevant consideration in awarding punishment, the Bench said it would depend upon the facts of a particular case. “For example, where a woman has committed a crime being a part of a terrorist group, mercy may not be shown,” it explained.

While the Indian Penal Code provides discretion to judges while awarding the sentence, the court will undoubtedly have regard to extenuating and mitigating circumstances.

However, the Bench said: “There was no reason to show any further mercy by the HC. Further, removing the element of imprisonment altogether was, in any case, erroneous in law,” it said, restoring the punishment by the trial court.

“In many countries, gender is not a mitigating factor. Some jurists also stress that in this world of gender equality, women should be treated on a par with men even as regards equal offences committed by them,” Justice Sikri noted.