Phoolan Devi murder
New Delhi: Sher Singh Rana, the lone convict in the sensational murder of bandit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi here in 2001, was on Thursday awarded life imprisonment by a Delhi court which also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on him.
Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar pronounced the order on sentence in a jam-packed courtroom where some of the family members and supporters of Rana were also present.
“For offence under Section 302/34 IPC, I award you life term and Rs 50,000 fine… For offence under Section 307, I award you life term with a fine of Rs 50,000,” the judge said, adding that if Rana failed to deposit the penalty imposed on him, he will have to undergo six months imprisonment each in default.
As soon as the judge pronounced the verdict, some family members of Rana and his supporters were in tears. The court had on August 8 convicted Rana while it acquitted 10 other co-accused in the sensational murder of Phoolan who was then a Lok Sabha member.
Rana was held guilty of offences under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) under the IPC in the case. 37-year-old Phoolan, then a Samajwadi Party MP from Mirzapur constituency in Uttar Pradesh, was shot dead from close range by three masked gunmen in front of her Ashoka Road residence here in the heart of the capital’s VIP area as she returned home for lunch after attending Lok Sabha on July 25, 2001.
During the arguments on quantum of sentence earlier, prosecution had sought death penalty for Rana contending that he had committed Phoolan’s murder in a pre-planned and meticulous manner.
The prosecution had said that Rana should be given the extreme punishment for the heinous crime as a person like him is a threat to society.
Rana’s counsel, however, had opposed the contentions of the prosecution saying the police has miserably failed to prove the motive behind the murder.
Rana Sher Singh had previously also sought leniency from the court, saying that it should pardon him once and that his image has been tarnished by the police by lodging “false cases” against him. (PTI)