CUTTACK: In a significant verdict delivered nearly three decades after a brutal double-murder shocked Kendrapara district, the Orissa High Court on Monday upheld the conviction and life sentences of six men involved in the 1996 killing of Sankarsan Sethy and his brother-in-law Babuli Sethy.
A division bench comprising Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice Chittaranjan Dash pronounced the judgment in the long-pending criminal appeal filed by the convicts against their 1998 conviction by the court of Additional Sessions Judge, Kendrapara.
The incident occurred on June 19, 1996, in Indupur village under Kendrapara police station limits. According to the prosecution, the victims were attacked with lethal weapons including a crowbar, spear, and bhujali in full public view over a dispute involving non-repayment of a loan amount of just Rs 1,000 given by Sankarsan Sethy. Both men succumbed to their injuries.
The trial court had on September 22, 1998, convicted nine persons in the case and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Criminal appeals were filed in the high court the same year. However, during the prolonged pendency of the appeal, three of the convicts passed away, leading to abatement of their appeals in 2024.
Delivering the judgement, the high court observed, “The case in hand depicts a painful and distressing event of double-murder committed in front of the relations on the village street just in connection with non-payment of paltry loan amount of Rs 1,000.”
The bench noted that the testimonies of four eyewitnesses were ‘clear, consistent, and trustworthy’ and corroborated by medical evidence, affirming the trial court’s verdict. “We are of the humble view that the trial court has rightly found the appellants guilty,” the court stated.
The convictions of Chandi Sethy, Karunakar Sethy, Bulu Sethy, Basanta Sethy, Premananda Sethy, and Suratha Sethy under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and the life sentences were thus confirmed.
Notably, all six convicts had been released on bail on March 18, 2010. The high court has now ordered the cancellation of their bail and surety bonds.