NEW DELHI: Criticising the Allahabad High Court, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the High Court released two men convicted of a brutal attack causing grievous injuries on probation despite an adverse report by the probation officer.
The apex court said the accused were released on probation in ignorance of the adverse report submitted by the probation officer against them.
"The HC, despite the overwhelming adverse report on the 'character of the offenders' and giving short shrift to the 'nature of the offence', released the accused on good conduct. There was nothing commending the Court to so release the accused, since the conduct, over the years, of the accused was anything other than 'good'," observed a bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran.
The bench added that, despite the brutality of the attack and the serious injuries suffered by the victim, "the accused have gone scot-free without suffering a single day of imprisonment..."
The apex court said the Allahabad High Court ignored the adverse report on the character of the offenders and did not properly consider the nature of the offence while granting probation on good conduct.
It said there was nothing in the record to show that the conduct of the accused had been good over the years to justify probation.
The Supreme Court thereby criticised the manner in which the Allahabad High Court dealt with the case, after noting that, despite the grievous injuries suffered by the victim, the convicts were allowed to go scot-free without serving any time in prison.