When a murder convict pleaded for his life sentence to be suspended by promising to pledge himself to any cause, the Madhya Pradesh High Court came up with an uncommon middle-ground. Given that he had already been in prison for a decade, it released him with a caveat – that he should plant 10 neem saplings and care for them to “counter the idea of violence”.
A Division Bench of Justices Anand Pathak and Justice Pushpendra Yadav said the directions are a part of a pilot initiative so the “idea of violence and evil may be countered by creation and harmony with nature”.
“At present, there is a need to cultivate the qualities of compassion, service, love, and kindness as essential elements of human existence, for these are fundamental human instincts and must be revived to preserve life. This effort is not merely about planting a tree, but about sowing the seed of an idea,” the court said.
The court was hearing a plea by Mahesh Sharma challenging a 2021 trial court order sentencing him to life in a murder case. He had also filed an application seeking suspension of sentence and grant of bail.
The court said that if the appellant furnishes bail bond of Rs 50,000 along with two solvent sureties of the like amount and promise to appear before HC’s Principal Registrar when summoned, he will be released on bail and “execution of jail sentence is suspended till disposal of this appeal”, subject to deposit of fine amount.
“It is made clear that this bail by way of suspension of sentence is granted once the case is made out for bail and thereafter, direction for plantation of saplings is given and it is not the case where a person intends to serve social cause, can be given bail without considering the merits,” the court clarified.
The court ordered the appellant to plant 10 saplings of fruit-bearing, neem or peepal trees and said the appellant was responsible for nurturing the plants, asking him to submit photographs of the saplings within 30 days of his release.
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“It is the duty of the trial court to monitor the progress of the trees, as human existence is at stake due to environmental degradation, and the court cannot overlook any negligence by the applicant in complying with the directions,” the court said.
The applicant shall “specifically plant saplings/trees of 6–8 feet height in pits of 3–4 feet depth so that they may grow into fully developed trees quickly”, the court said.
The convict had pleaded for a suspended sentence stating that he “voluntarily undertakes to perform community service to purge his misdeed, if any and to serve National /Environmental/Social cause”, the court said, adding that it was also considering the fact that the appellant has “already suffered around 10 years and 8 months of incarceration as pre- and post-trial detention”.
