Not Open To Trial Courts Awarding Life Imprisonment To Further Specify Term Of Incarceration As Remainder Of Natural Life, Or Rule Out Remission

The Punjab and Haryana Court has reaffirmed that Trial courts have no power to order a life sentence to run till natural life or that no remission will be granted.
The judgment delivered by a bench headed by Justice S. Muralidhar iterated that this power is solely with the HC and SC only in view of the constitution bench of the Apex Court in the V. Sriharan case. The bench, also comprising Justice Avneesh Jhingan, required copies of this judgment and the V. Sriharan judgment to be sent to all judges through the judicial academy and to all jail authorities of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The division bench also set aside the order rejecting grant of parole to the petitioner on these grounds and others and remanded the matter back from afresh decision in accordance with law. The petitioner was a disciple of Baba Rampal and was convicted in the same case as him.