Jammu – November 7: Delivering justice nearly thirteen years after the brutal killing of a 22-year-old youth in Jammu city, the Court of Principal Sessions Judge Jammu has sentenced five persons, including a woman, to life imprisonment for premeditated murder and recommended Rs 7 lakh compensation for the victim’s surviving family.
Pronouncing the landmark judgment in open court, Principal Sessions Judge Tahir Khurshid Raina held Surinder Kour, Talvinder Singh alias Sunny, Balvinder Singh alias Babloo, Sonu Singh alias Githa, and Saddam Hussain alias Sonu guilty of murdering Nishan Mattoo. The victim was ambushed and hacked to death with lethal sharp-edged weapons near the Valmiki Colony cremation ground in Gandhi Nagar on the evening of March 22, 2013.
According to the prosecution case presented by Public Prosecutor Hemanshu Parkash, the horrific crime originated from a dispute involving the daughter of convict Surinder Kour. Police investigations established that Kour actively instigated and conspired with the other co-accused to eliminate Mattoo. Following the killing, Gandhi Nagar Police registered FIR No. 68/2013 and subsequently filed a chargesheet under Sections 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 148, 149, and 109 (abetment) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), alongside provisions of the Arms Act. A sixth accused, Rahul Bhati alias Bhalla, was declared a juvenile by the court in May 2015 and his trial was transferred to the Juvenile Justice Board.
Evaluating sentencing principles, Judge Raina observed that a court must carefully calibrate the gravity of the offense against mitigating circumstances surrounding the convicts. While characterizing the fatal assault as reprehensible and cruel, the court noted that the prosecution failed to demonstrate that the possibility of reformation was entirely foreclosed, thereby ruling out the extreme penalty of death.
Significantly, the court voiced serious institutional concern over the protracted duration of the trial, which spanned nearly 13 years without deliberate delay on the part of the defense. The judge observed that the prosecution had taken an inordinate amount of time to examine witnesses, resulting in lengthy incarceration and impacting the accused persons’ right to a speedy trial under constitutional jurisprudence.
Accordingly, the court awarded life imprisonment to all five convicts, alongside imposing an individual fine of Rs 50,000 on each convict, to be disbursed directly to the deceased’s legal heirs. Convicts Talvinder Singh, Balvinder Singh, Sonu Singh, and Saddam Hussain received additional sentences under rioting and Arms Act provisions, with all terms directed to run concurrently.
Taking compassionate judicial note of the severe emotional and financial distress endured by the deceased youth’s family, the court recommended a compensation grant of Rs 7 lakh to the dependents of Nishan Mattoo under the Jammu and Kashmir Victim Compensation Scheme, 2019.
Published by True Roots Media