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Month: November 2022

DOCTRINE OF LIS PENDENS

Introduction

The Transfer of Property Act, 1882, was promulgated embodying the principles of English Common Law, namely equity, good conscience, and justice underscored by the provisions of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and came into force from July 1, 1882.

Property or ownership are synonymous with each other, and ownership interest is automatically created when a right is vested.

Ownership has to be:

  1. Indefinite in terms of the user – The owner may use the property with certain restrictions without violating the rights of others, but at no time will it be deemed to be a negation of the owner’s ownership in the property, even if the rights may be restricted.
  2. Unrestricted in the point of disposition – The owner is free to sell the property at any time. Minors (those under the age of 18) can own property but cannot alienate it, hence there are certain exceptions to this rule. Furthermore, the government may purchase the land without the owner’s permission in order to fulfil certain objectives.
  3. Unlimited in the point of duration – As long as the property in question exists, the property rights are heritable. Again, the Government can, at any point, acquire the property and terminate the owner’s rights.

Transfers inter vivos, or between two living individuals, are covered by the Transfer of Property Act. A transfer is defined as an action in which one or more living people acquire property from another living person.

When the owner is the transferor and the transferee is the person or persons to whom the rights are transferred, the transferee can only get the rights of the transferor and nothing more.

The Transfer of Property Act, 1882, saw its first change in 1929, expanding the definition of “living persons” to encompass organisations made up of individuals, whether or not they are corporations.

Origin of the doctrine of Lis Pendens

The doctrine of Lis Pendens has its origin by Lord Justice Turner in Bellamy Vs. Sabine, 1857 Where the Court observed the following:

“This is a doctrine common to law and equity courts, which I apprehend, on the grounds that, if alienation pendente lite was allowed to prevail, it would simply not be possible for any action or suit to be resolved successfully. In any case, the Plaintiff will be responsible for the Defendant who alienated the property before the judgment or the decree and must be obliged, according to the same course of action, to initiate these proceedings de novo.”

The facts of the above case were the following:

A person, Mr X, sold an immovable property to Mr A.

Mr X’s son, Mr Z, who was the heir of Mr. X, sued Mr A in a competent court to declare the sale as void.

However, while this litigation was pending, Mr. A sold the property to Mr. B, who did not take notice of the suit.

The Court held that the son Mr. Z was entitled to the property and the sale was set aside.

Mr. B who purchased the property from Mr. A does not get any title as he purchased theproperty from someone who did not have the title and therefore cannot convey it.

Therefore, evolving the principles of common law and Section 52 of The Transfer of Property Act, 1882, was born and is as follows:

“When there is an ongoing lawsuit in any Court having authority within the limits of India, a suit or proceeding in which any right to immovable property is precisely in question, the property cannot be conveyed by any party to the lawsuit which can influence the rights of any other party thereto under any order which may be rendered therein, unless under the jurisdiction of the Court and on such conditions as it may enforce.“

Lis Pendens literally means ‘litigation pending’ or ‘pending suit’ and is drawn from the concept based on the maxim “Pendente lite nihil innovature” which means that nothing new must be introduced while a litigation or suit is pending.

This Doctrine states that the Transfer of property shall be restricted when there is a litigation pending on the title or any rights that arise directly thereof involving an immovable property.

The suit commences the moment a complaint is presented or the day of commencement of proceedings in the appropriate Court and shall be terminated by Order of the Court.

The Court may, however, permit any party to the suit to transfer the property on such terms which it may think fit and proper to impose.

The sale of immovable property can take place through private negotiations, but the said Transfer will be subservient to the verdict of the competent Court.

The purpose of the doctrine of Lis Pendens

This doctrine is important because it bans the transfer of any contested property’s title without the court’s permission. Without it, disputes can drag on indefinitely and it will be impossible to bring a lawsuit to a successful conclusion.

The “Transferee pendente lite” is subject to the judgement in the same way as if he were a party to the action, and the transfer will be based on the outcome of the ongoing litigation.

Conditions for Applicability of the Doctrine as provided in Section 52

  • A suit or proceeding is pending.
  • The above suit is brought to a competent court within the jurisdiction.
  • The right to the title of an immovable property is directly in question.
  • There cannot be any collusion.
  • The suit should directly affect the rights of the other party.
  • The property in question is being transferred by either party.

Some examples for Non-Applicability:

This does not apply to a private sale by a creditor who has the authority to sell the property that is subject to a mortgage even if the borrower is the subject of an ongoing redemption action.

The Doctrine also does not apply if the item cannot be identified because of improper description.

The Doctrine does not apply when a right to the said immovable property is not directly in issue and hence alienations are authorised in a maintenance suit where the property is referenced simply to allow maintenance payments to be clearly assessed.

The Doctrine fails to apply when a Court orders restoration of immovable property under the Civil Procedure Code, Order 21, Rule 63.

Understanding the jurisprudential evolution of this Doctrine

In Ayyaswami vs Jayaram Mudaliar AIR 1973 SC 569, the Court held that the purpose of this provision is not to deprive the parties of every just or fair argument but rather to guarantee that the parties submit themselves to the jurisdiction and authority of the Court which shall determine all claims that are placed before it to the satisfaction of the parties concerned.

In the case of Hardev Singh v. Gurmail Singh, Civil Appeal No. 6222 of 2000, the Court ruled that Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act, would not make void or unlawful any sale of the contested properties, but only puts the purchaser beyond the binding limits of the judgment on the disposition of the conflict.

The land in dispute was initially registered in the name of the Plaintiff in Koyalee v. Rajasthan District, AIR 2009 Raj.28. After his passing, his brother discovered it and, knowing full well that his brother’s wife was still alive and the only recorded legal heir, launched a lawsuit to pursue the Khatedari rights. As a result, the wife was forced to contest that she was the only recorded legal heir of the Khatedar. Although it reiterated its authority to exempt the suit property from the restrictions outlined in Section 52 of the Act, it allowed the Respondent to make a pendente lite move in Vinod Seth v. Devinder Bajaj, 2010. However, the Court has set a few restrictions on these Section 52 exemptions. In the case at hand, the Defendant wanted to transfer ownership of the land to a third party while the Plaintiff was a contractor who wished to benefit by erecting a structure on the suit-land. In order to transfer the subject property, the defendant was required to deposit a total of three lakh rupees as a security; this is the amount the claimant would have benefited from. In order to make the pendente lite transfer legal, the Court had so imposed the requirement for the payment of that amount.

The Court’s positions on this pendente lite-transfers issue are explained in Ashok Kumar v. Govindammal and Anr, 2010. The Supreme Court of India has here reaffirmed that a pendente lite cannot be transferred for a property whose title is the subject of litigation.

The rights of the person to whom the court would eventually have granted title to the property would be restricted by these transfer payments. When the court’s ruling upholds the pendente lite transferor’s entitlement to the property, the transferee’s title to the property is ignored. A transferor can only have title to a portion of the property, but, if the pendente lite transferor’s title is accepted for the entire property. The Transfer of the title of the rest of the land, for which there is no right for the pendente lite transferor, is invalid. This means that the transferee cannot claim the title or any other interest in the rest of the property. Finally, if the transferor was found to have no right in the first place to the transferred land, then the transferor would also not have gained rights on this property.

In accordance with Section 47(2) of the Registration Act of 1908, the Supreme Court considered and revised the law pertaining to the doctrine of lis pendens in the case of Har Narain v. Mam Chand. According to the lis pendens doctrine, no fixed property may be transferred while a litigation involving it is ongoing. A recorded sale deed for a fixed property is regarded as having existed upon registration under Section 47 as of the date of execution. The Court affirmed that the fiction created in accordance with Section 47 does not preclude the operation of a lis pendens. Therefore, the Court determined that land sales are nonetheless bound by the lis pendens concept even if the civil action begins later and is registered..

Suggestions

While the Doctrine is essential to guarantee the protection of the parties’ property rights, it is equally crucial to use technology to prevent the transfer of the property title under consideration while the case is still in progress. In order to ensure that the integrity and sanctity of the data are never in doubt, India has already created a Unique Identification System for all of its citizens via the Aadhaar card. This can be combined with the fact that all properties are given a property identification number to ensure that this can be done. Additionally, it will help to prevent situations in which the property cannot be located.

When an encumbrance certificate (EC) is issued, it mentions any encumbrance. This can be improved, so as to list any pending litigation(s) to alert the registering authority and the parties concerned.

Conclusion

The Lis Pendens doctrine strongly adheres to the theory of necessity rather than the theory of notice, which is guided by the three common law principles of justice, equity, and good conscience. Therefore, it is essential to making sure that justice is served without violating the rights of either party.

Promoter

A promotr is a person who does the necessary preliminary work incident alto the formation of a company.It is a compendious term used fora person who undertakes,does and goes , keeping in view the object, to bring into existence an incorporated company. Chronologically, the first persons who control a company’s affairs are its promoters

Section 2(69) of the Companies Act, 2013 defines the term ‘promoter’ as under:-
“Promoter” means a person—
(a) who has been named as such in a prospectus or is identified by the company in the annual return
referred to in section 92; or
(b) who has control over the affairs of the company, directly or indirectly whether as a shareholder,
director or otherwise; or
(c) in accordance with whose advice, directions or instructions the Board of Directors of the company is
accustomed to act.

It was held in Twycross v. Grant, (1877) 2. C.P.D. 469 that promoter is “one who undertakes to form a company with reference to a given project and to set it going, and who takes the necessary steps to accomplish that purpose”.

Functions

1. The promoter of a company decides its name and ascertains that it will cbe accepted by the Registrar of Companies.

2. He settles the details of the company’s Memorandum and Articles, the nominations of directors,solicitors,bankers,auditors and secretary and the registered office of the company.

3. He arranges for the printing of the Memorandum and Articles, the registration of the company ,the issue of prospect us ,where a publishable is necessary.

Categories of Company Promoter

A promoter is the one who decides an idea for creating a particular business at a given place and carries out a range of formalities required for starting a business. A promoter is the one who decides an idea for setting up a particular business at a given place and carries out a range of formalities required for the setting up of a business. A promoter may perhaps be an individual, a firm, and an association of persons or a company.

The promoters may perhaps be professional, occasional, financial or managing promoters. A professional promoter gives away the company to the shareholders when the company starts. Regrettably, such promoters are very inadequate in the developing countries.

They have played a significant role in many countries and aided the business community to a great extent. In U.K. the issue houses, in U.S. investment banks and in Germany.

  • Joint Stock Banks have enacted the role of promoters very appreciably and effectively.
  • Occasional promoters are those whose most important interest is the floating of companies. They are not in promotion work on standard basis but take up promotion of some companies and then go to their former profession. For example, engineers, lawyers etc. may perhaps float some companies.
  • Financial promoters perform the task of promoting the financial institutions. They usually take up this work when financial environment is constructive at the time. Managing promoters played an important role in promoting new companies and then got their managing agency rights.

A promoter is neither an agent nor a trustee of the company as it is a non-entity before incorporation. Some legal cases have attempted to spell out the standing of promoters.

Fiduciary position

1. Not to make any profit at the expense of the company -the promoter must not make, either directly or indirectly, any profit at the expense of the company which is being promoted. If any secret profit is made in violation of this rule,the company may, on discovering it, compel him to account for and surrender such profit.

2. To give benefit of negotiations to the company – the promoter must, when once he has begun to act in the promotion of a company, give to the company the benefit of any negotiations or contracts into which he enters in respect of the company. Thus where he purchases some property for the company,he cannot rightfully sell that property to the company at a price higher than he have for it. If he does so, the company may, on discovering it,rescind the contract and recover the purchase money.

3. To make a full disclosure of interest or profit -if the promoter fails to make a full disclosure of all the relevant facts, including any profit and his personal interest I a transaction with the company,the company may sue him for damages for breach of his fiduciary duty and recover from him any secret profit made even though rescission is not asked or is impossible.

4. Not to make unfair use of position -the promoter must not make an unfair or take care to avoid any unreasonable use of his position and must take care to avoid anything which has the appearance of undue influence or fraud Further, a promoter cannot relive himself of his liability by making provisions to that effect in the Articles of the company.

5. Duty of promoter as regards prospectus -the promoter must see, connection with the prospectus, if any is issued, that the prospectus –

(a) contains the necessary particulars

(b) does not contain any untrue or misleading statements or does not omit any

Liabilities

Remuneration:

A promoter has no right to get compensation from the company for his services inpromotingthecompanyunlessthereisacontacttothateffect.Inpractice,a promoter takes remuneration for his services in one of the following ways-

1. he my sell his own property at a profit to the company for cash or fully- paid shares provided he makes a disclosure to this effect

2. He may be given an option to buy a certain number of shares in the company at par.

3. He may take a commission on the shares sold

4. He may be paid a lump sum by the company.

Conclusion

A promoter is the one who decides an idea for creating a particular business at a given place and carries out a range of formalities required for starting a business. A promoter is the one who decides an idea for setting up a particular business at a given place and carries out a range of formalities required for the setting up of a business. A promoter may perhaps be an individual, a firm, and an association of persons or a company.

The Principle of GST

Meaning of GST:

The goods and services tax (GST) is an indirect federal sales tax that is applied to the cost of certain goods and services. The business adds the GST to the price of the product, and a customer who buys the product pays the sales price inclusive of the GST. The GST portion is collected by the business or seller and forwarded to the government. It is also referred to as Value Added Tax (VAT) in some countries.

Most countries with a GST have a single unified GST system, which means that a single tax rate is applied throughout the country. A country with a unified GST platform merges central taxes (e.g., sales tax, excise duty tax, and service tax) with state-level taxes (e.g., entertainment tax, entry tax,sin tax,transfer tax,sin tax, ( luxury tax) and collects them as one single tax. These countries tax virtually everything at a single rate.

• The Centre will levy and collect the Central GST.

• States will levy and collect the State GST on the supply of goods and services within a state.

Principles of GST

• The Centre will levy the Integrated GST (IGST) on the inter-state supply of goods and services, and apportion the state’s share of tax to the state where the good or service is consumed.

• The 2016 Act requires Parliament to compensate states for any revenue loss owing to the implementation of GST.

The salient features of GST are as under:

(i) Supply would be the Taxable event: GST would be applicable on supply of goods or services as against the present concept of tax on the manufacture of goods or on sale of goods or on provision of services (Refer Section 7 of CGST Act, 2017)

(ii) Destination Based Taxation: Consuming state will gain due to this shift from origin based taxation to destination based taxation; Parliament shall by law, on recommendation of GST council, provide for compensation to states for loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of GST upto 5 years as per clause 18 of the constitutional (One hundred and First) amendment Act, 2016

(iii) Dual Taxing Structure: The new Article 246A intends to grant concurrent powers to the Union and state legislatures to make laws with respect to GST. The power to make laws in respect of supplies in the course of inter-state trade or commerce will be vested only in the Union Government. States will have the right to levy GST on intra-state transactions including services. It would be a dual GST with the Centre and the States simultaneously levying it on a common base. The GST to be levied by the Centre would be called Central GST (CGST) and that to be levied by the States would be called State GST (SGST).

(iv) Integrated GST (IGST): It would be levied on inter-State supply (including stock transfers) of goods or services. This would be collected by the Centre so that the credit chain is not disrupted.

(v) BCD + IGST on Imports of Goods: It would be treated as inter-State supplies and would be subject to IGST in addition to the applicable customs duties (BCD)

(vi) IGST on Import of Services: Import of services would be treated as inter-State supplies and would be subject to IGST.

Objectives of GST

1. One Country – One Tax: Implementation of goods and services tax aims at creating one tax rate one market across the country by removing different rates of taxes applicable. By the implementation of GST only one rate of tax is applicable on a particular product across the country.

2. Consumption based tax instead of Manufacturing: Goods & services tax on consumption. It is a destination based tax i.e., the tax will be paid to the state where the final product is purchased / consumed by the final consumer rather than where the product is produced or manufactured.

3. Uniform GST Registration, payment and Input Tax Credit: To create simple administrative procedure this GST system needs only a Single Uniform GST registration across the states. The manufacturer, wholesaler, trader will be eligible for input tax credit on the inputs used for the final product being sold.

4. To eliminate the cascading effect of Indirect taxes on single transaction: The key objective of implementation of goods and services tax is to remove cascading effect of tax i.e., tax on taxes. In the earlier system where the value added tax / sales tax was levied on excise duty, customs duty included in the purchase price of the inputs which was lead to cascading of taxes and thereby the selling prices will be increased, it was burden to the final consumers. Under GST the tax paid on inputs in earlier stages will be allowed as input tax credit hence the tax will be levied only on value addition in each stage of consumption. Hence, the cascading of taxes will be removed to a maximum extent.

5. Subsume all indirect taxes at Centre and State Level: The pre-GST implementation taxes like central excise duty, special additional duty, value added tax, service tax etc, will be subsumed under dual system i.e., Central Goods and Services Tax and State Goods and Services Tax.

6. Reduce tax evasion and corruption: Implementation of GST aims at reducing the tax evasion by the businessmen, public and entities.

7. Increase Productivity: By allowing taxes paid in the earlier stages as inputs the cost of the products will be reduced and thereby the consumption will be increased which will in turn lead for increase in production.

8. Increase Tax to GDP ratio and revenue surplus: The implementation of GST assists all the sectors to contribute to the higher extent than at present contribution.

9. Increase Compliance: Under GST only single registration, single return is required to be submitted compared to old indirect tax system. It can be expected that the compliance level will be enhanced.

10.Reducing economic distortions: Implementation of GST tries to solve the economic problems by making the necessity products cheaper to all categories of people.

11. Decreasing the unhealthy competition among the states due to taxes and revenues: The intention of introducing GST as one nation – one tax is to avoid any unhealthy competition among the states and the tax structure is made uniform across all the states so that goods can be bought or supplied to any where at the same rate. The centre shares the revenues with the states.

12. Ensuring the availability of input credit across the value chain: GST allows the set- off of input tax to output tax. This input credit is available through out the stages of manufacture of across the value chain. It is only the difference in tax between output tax and input tax that is payable.

Who needs GST Registration?

The criteria for persons who should be registered under GST are provided under Chapter 6 of the CGST Act. As per the CGST Act, the following persons are required to obtain GST registration.

Who is NOT Required to Obtain GST Registration?

Any person who is engaged exclusively in the business of supplying goods or services that are not liable to tax under GST or wholly exempt from tax under GST is exempt from obtaining GST registration.

Also, an agriculturist, to the extent of supply of produce out of cultivation of land is exempt from obtaining GST registration. Under GST, agriculturist means an individual or a Hindu Undivided Family who undertakes cultivation of land:

By own labour, or

By the labour of family, or

By servants on wages payable in cash or kind or by hired labour under personal supervision or the personal supervision of any member of the family.

Kinds of Punishments

In India, the reformative theory is followed to provide punishment. The punishment awarded should neither be so harsh nor so easy so that it fails to serve its purpose in generating impact on the offender and as an eye-opener for others.it is considered that punishment should be of such a nature that it brings reform in a person’s personality and thinking.

Object of punishment

The object of punishment is to protect society from disobedient and undesirable elements by deterring potential offenders, by proving the actual offenders from committing further offences and by reforming and turning them into law-abiding citizens

Sec 53 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 prescribes 5 kinds of punishments.

  1. Death Penalty
  2. Life imprisonment
  3. Imprisonment
    1. Rigorous
    2. Simple
  4. Forfeiture of property
  5. Fine

Considering the above punishments, the courts are supposed to follow the procedures and provisions which are prescribed under other adjective and substantive laws. 

As per the scheme of the Code the maximum punishment is prescribed, leaving the minimum to the discretion of the Judge. The Judge has all the means to form an opinion on the sentence which would meet the end of justice in a particular case. If the offence is grave in nature then the Code had prescribed the maximum and the minimum duration of the punishment.

1. Death Penalty

Death penalty is also called the capital punishment. Under this punishment, a person is hanged till he dies. The infliction of death sentence or taking away the offenders life by authority as a punishment for an offence is capital punishment or death penalty. In India it is awarded in rarest of rare cases.

The provisions under which the death penalty is given as punishment under IPC are as follows:

  • Section 115– Abetment for an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life (if offence not committed);
  • Section 118– Concealing design to commit an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life.
  • Section 121– When armed rebellion (i.e. waging, abetting to waging of war or attempting to wage war) is made against the constitutionally and legally established government;
  • Section 132– Uprising, supporting and encouraging the formation of the mutinous group of people in the nations armed forces;
  • Section 194 With the intent to obtain a death sentence to an innocent by presenting concocted vexatious proof;
  • Section 302– Causing murder of another;
  • Section 305– Abetting suicide to an insane or minor person;
  • Section 303– When a life convict person murders another person;
  • Section 396– Causing dacoity with murder;
  • Section 364A– Kidnapping;
  • Section 376A (as per the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013)- Rape

Some other Acts under which the death penalty covered as punishment are: 

  1. Section 4, part II of the Prevention of Sati Act- Abetting or aiding an act of sati.
  2. Section 31A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act- Drug trafficking in cases of repeat offences.

However, the death penalty as a punishment is an exception to certain persons like intellectually disabled, pregnant women and minors.

Case Laws

Bachan Singh Vs the State of Punjab (AIR 1980 SC 898,1980)
Upheld the validity of the death penalty, but the court restricted the provision of the death penalty in rarest of rare cases only. If the case falls under this theory, then capital punishment may be given.
 

Jagmohan Singh Vs State of Uttar Pradesh (1973 AIR 947,1973 SCR (2)541)
The death penalty is unconstitutional and hence invalid as a punishment. The Supreme Court held the death penalty as valid. It held that deprivation of life is constitutionally lawful if that is done according to the procedure set by law.

2. Life Imprisonment

“Imprisonment means, at minimum, the loss of liberty and autonomy, as well as many material comforts, personal security, and access to heterosexual relations.”

The words imprisonment for life was substituted for transportation for life by Act XXVI of 1955.In its ordinary connotation imprisonment for life means imprisonment for the whole of the remaining life period of the convicted person’s natural life. According to Sec57 imprisonment for life shall be reckoned as equivalent to imprisonment for 20 year’s. But only for calculating fractions of terms of punishment imprisonment for life shall be reckoned as equivalent to imprisonment for 20yrs. But otherwise the sentence of imprisonment for life is of indefinite duration.

Case Law

  1. Bhagirath And Ors Vs.Delhi Administration (1985 AIR 1050)
    The supreme court of India defined imprisonment for life as imprisonment for the remainder of the natural life of the convict. If life imprisonment is given to a person, he shall stay in the prison for a minimum of 14 years and the maximum is the rest of his life.
     
  2. Naib Singh V.State of Punjab And Ors. (AIR 1986 SC 2192)
    The supreme court of India cleared the confusion with the duration of life imprisonment and section 55 of IPC. The court held that a life convict cannot claim for his release after serving 14 years in prison. Life imprisonment continues until the death of the prisoner. The only exception to this is commutation and remission.
  3. In the case of Duryodhan Rout Vs. State of Orissa (2014), the Apex Court clearly stated that reading Section 55 of the Code and Section 433 and 433 A of Cr.P.C, life imprisonment is not confined to 14 years of imprisonment, only the appropriate government can commute the life imprisonment of the prisoner

3. Imprisonment –

It refers to the confinement of a convict in a place used to detain persons convicted of crimes. The IPC recognizes two forms of imprisonment, namely:

  1. Rigorous and
  2. simple. Rigorous imprisonment involves putting the convict to hard labor such as grinding corn, digging the earth, drawing water, cutting wood, bowing wool, making furniture, etc. whereas a convict is not put to any work in case of simple imprisonment.
    The Supreme Court in State of Gujarat vs Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat clarified that the prisoners who are put to hard labor should necessarily the paid minimum wages for the work extracted. It has also been noted by the Supreme Court that S.53-fourthly mandates the jail authorities to impose hard labor on the convict sentenced to rigorous imprisonment. In the course of doing so, the jail official cannot be said to have been committing any offense under section 374 IPC. This will not, however, be applicable in cases where the accused is awarded simple imprisonment or detained under preventive detention laws or under trial prisoners.

4.Forfeiture of Property

Under this punishment, the government seizes all the property or assets of the convicted. The seized property or asset may be movable or immovable. Forfeiture of property as punishment is for offences under section 126  and section 127.

In two provisions the forfeiture of the property has been abolished:

  1. Under Section 126 for committing depredation on territories of power at peace with government of India.
  2. Under Section 127 for receiving property taken during war or depredation mentioned in section 126 of IPC

Solitary Confinement

Solitary confinement means keeping the convict isolated and away from any interaction with the world. It comes under Section 73 of the Indian Penal Code.

5. Fine –

It means forfeiting money as a form of penalty. This form of punishment has been considered valid on the ground of its universality; however, the fine imposed should be proportionate to the offense committed because it not only affects the convict but also his dependents. Under IPC, a fine can be imposed as the sole punishment or an alternative punishment or for a limited amount or unlimited amount. Judges have broad discretion while quantifying the fine to be imposed, especially where the provision makes no stipulation as to the amount of fine. Courts being the administrators of justice, it is expected of them that the fines imposed should be fair, just, reasonable, and not excessive. The fine imposed should be within the convict’s capacity to pay but he must feel the pinch in paying it. The imposition of a sentence of fine should be on an individual basis and not collectively. Various cases of non-payment of fine and its various forms have been dealt with under Ss. 64-69 IPC.

Case Law

  • Palaniappa Gounder Vs. State of Tamilnadu (1977 AIR 1323)
    The apex court stated that the sentence given by the court shall be proportionate to the nature of the offence which includes the sentence of fine. And the punishment shall not be unduly excessive.

Conclusion

All the punishments are retributive, reformative and deterrent in nature. It is stated that a reformative approach to punishment should be the object of criminal law. Here we have also discussed the important decisions made by the supreme court and when the death sentence may be passed. We have discussed various punishments which are imposed differently in different offences, the term, nature, etc varies in each case and offences and also according to courts. All the punishments are retributive, reformative and deterrent in nature. It is stated that a reformative approach to punishment should be the object of criminal law.

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