Additional Sessions Judge A K Sarvaria sentenced Delhi resident Vijay alias Rinku to life imprisonment under Section 302 of IPC for murdering the taxi driver, while co-convict Vijay Pratap Singh, from Uttar Pradesh, was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of one year and one month under Section 411 of IPC for receiving the stolen taxi.
The court also granted them the benefit under Section 428 of CrPC, that the period of detention already undergone by them during the period of investigation and trial be set off against the term of imprisonment awarded to them.
Rinku's counsel had sought a lenient view from the court saying he has been in custody for last four-and-a-half years and is the sole earning member in his family. Pratap's counsel had also sought leniency on the ground that his client had been in custody for over 13 months after he was arrested on November 4, 2007 and had remained in jail.
According to the prosecution, Rinku, Ashish and their unidentified friend booked the taxi by phone on the morning of October 31, 2007 and on the way to Aligarh from Delhi, they had murdered the driver and made off with the vehicle.
An FIR was initially registered on December 3, 2007 after the body of the driver was found in a field in Uttar Pradesh on November 1, 2007.
