A Delhi court has awarded life imprisonment to a repeat offender for murdering a youth for monetary gain and expressed concern over the rising crime graph in the national capital.
The court held Chanderjeet, a resident of Bihar, guilty of murdering Arun Mandal in 2007.
"After having considered the submissions and the various aggravating and mitigating factors, I hold that the case in hand certainly does not fall within the category of 'rarest of rare' or least even in category of 'rare case' and I hereby award rigorous imprisonment for life sentence to the convict Chanderjeet," Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs one lakh on him and said if realised, the amount be paid the kin of the victim.
"Undue sympathy, under these circumstances, to impose inadequate sentence upon the convicts who are repeat offenders would do more harm to the justice system to undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law and society cannot long endure under such serious threats," the judge said.
Showing serious concern over the rise in Delhi's crime graph, the judge said that a staggering 73,958 cases were registered under the Indian Penal Code in 2013, up from 51,479 cases in 2012.
"The deteriorating law and order problem of the city is a matter of serious concern and immediate steps are required to be taken at all levels for ensuring security and safety of the citizens.
"Criminals are unhesitatingly and indiscriminately using dangerous firearms on helpless victims who may or may not offer any resistance thereby spreading terror in the society and adversely affecting social order and the faith of people in the system," the judge said.
According to prosecution, Chanderjeet, who was absconding in a firing case at Udyog Vihar area of Gurgaon, was in need of money to meet his expenses. He demanded Rs 50,000 from Arun Mandal who was running a dental lab at Delhi and previously known to him.
Mandal denied the money to Chanderjeet as a result, he shot him at his house along with two of his associates on January 8, 2007.
