Court Upholds Cop's Life Term For Killing Wife's 'Lover' At Police Station

According to the prosecution, the victim was in an illicit relationship with the convict's wife and on June 30, 2002, had gone to the Mayur Vihar police station where the convict was posted.

Terming the offence "brazen", the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of a constable who shot dead his brother-in-law with his service weapon inside a police station more than two decades ago as he was irked over the victim's alleged illicit relations with his wife.

A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Rajesh Bindal trashed the plea of convict Surender Singh that the victim had come to kill him and the offence was committed in self-defence and hence, cannot be termed murder under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"On every possible count, the case is nothing but a case of murder. The nature of the weapon used, the number of gunshots fired at the deceased, the part of the body where the gunshots were fired -- all point towards the fact that the appellant was determined to kill the deceased. Ultimately, he achieved his task and made sure that the deceased was dead. By no stretch of logic is it a case of any lesser magnitude and definitely not culpable homicide not amounting to murder," Justice Dhulia said in the 23-page judgment.