The court observed that the act of the four convicts does not fall under the ‘rarest of rare’ category and hence, the death penalty cannot be imposed.
Digital Desk: Almost 15 years after the murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in the nation's capital, a Delhi court on Saturday sentenced four of the guilty to life in jail. The fifth prisoner has been sentenced to the amount of time he has already served in jail.
Under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the four accused—Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Balbir Malik, and Ajay Kumar—have also been fined Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 lakh, respectively.
The court noted that the four convicted individuals' actions do not meet the criteria for the "rarest of rare," and as a result, the death sentence is not applicable.
As Vishwanathan, a journalist with the India Today group, was making her way home from work on Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi in the early hours of September 30, 2008, she was shot and killed. Police claimed the motive was robbery.
On October 18, the court found Amit Shukla, Ajay Kumar, Ajay Sethi, Baljeet Malik, and Ravi Kapoor guilty of murder and common purpose.
In accordance with the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the prisoners were also found guilty of conducting organised crime that resulted in a person's death. The maximum punishment for the offenses is the death penalty.
The fifth defendant, Ajay Sethi, was found guilty by the court of conspiring to abet, help, or knowingly support organised crime as well as accepting its gains, in violation of Section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and the MCOCA provisions.
The prosecution claims that Kapoor chased the victim's car in an attempt to rob her and shot Vishwanathan on Nelson Mandela Marg using a handgun produced in the nation. Kapoor was accompanied by Shukla, Kumar, and Malik as well.
was thought to have been a vehicle accident before forensic examination revealed that she had been shot in the head.
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