NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a plea seeking various jail terms awarded to a convict under special laws on corruption and terrorism to run consecutively, as in countries like the US, and not concurrently.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi also sought response from the Law Commission and Union ministries of Law and Finance on the PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay.
The plea said that the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provision, which provides that a convict can serve varying jail terms simultaneously for several offences, should not be made applicable to the convicts in heinous cases.
“The Section 31 of the CrPC should not apply to special laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), the Black Money and Imposition of Tax Act, and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act,” said the PIL.
“Extorting money by spreading terrorism in society is the aim of organised criminals. The money is not spent on just causes but to derail state economy. It is therefore essential to provide for strictest punishment. Punishment envisaged in the Maharashtra Control Organised Crime Act was three to 10 years of imprisonment which can be extended to life imprisonment,” it said.
The PIL also sought directions to the Centre to ascertain the feasibility of adopting the best laws and policies of these countries against corruption, separatism and terrorism.