The punishments to which offenders are liable under Section 53 of The Indian Penal Code,1860 are :
First, Death
Secondly, Imprisonment of life.
Thirdly, Imprisonment which is two descriptions, namely-
- Rigorous, that is, hard labour;
- Simple;
Fifthly, Forfeiture of Property;
Sixthly, Fine.
Giving Punishment Is Under the Total Discretion of the Court
In Sibbu Munnilal v State of Madhya Pradesh, the court observed the following:
1. Imprisonment can be divided into two parts- Rigorous and Simple.
2. Imprisonment for life falls under Rigorous Imprisonment.
3. Death Penalty is considered “Rarest of rare case”
4. The difference between imprisonment and imprisonment for life means the later is rigorous in nature but the same is not “always” true for the former.
Let us discuss some of the important sections:
1. Section 115: Punishing a person for abatement of an offence which is punishable by life imprisonment or death.
2. Section 121: punishment given to offenders to make armed rebellion against a constitutionally established government.
3. Section 299: committing Culpable Homicide.
4. Section 302: Committing murder.
5. Section 305: making someone to commit suicide
6. Section 364A: Kidnapping.
7. Section 376 A: Rape
IMPORTANT CASES RELATED TO PUNISHMENT
1. Jagmohan Singh v State of U.P: The five-judge bench rejected the argument of the Death Penalty being in violation of Fundamental Rights i.e. Article 14, Article 19 and Article 21- Right to life.
2. Rajendra Prasad v State of U.P: Death Penalty is only given in extraordinary cases.
3. Bachchan Singh v State of Punjab: The state pronounced that the death penalty was not violating any of the fundamental rights and should be given in “Rarest of the rare cases”.
