New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on April 12 an appeal by city police challenging the lenient sentence imposed by the Delhi High Court to Sanjeev Nanda, convicted for mowing down six persons with his speeding BMW car in a drunken state 10 years ago.
The city police contended that Nanda, a grandson of former navy chief S M Nanda, should be convicted under the stringent provision of Section 304 (Part II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) which carried a punishment up to 10 years jail term.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishanan adjourned the case for April 12 after Nanda's counsel Ram Jethmalani expressed personal difficulty in arguing the case.
The High Court on July 20 last year granted a major relief to Nanda by setting aside trial court's conviction under the provision of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and convicted him under Section 304A (causing death by rash and negligent act) of the IPC which carries a maximum punishment of two years.
Nanda, son of arms dealer Suresh Nanda, has already served his two year sentence.
The court had pointed that "agony and trauma" that he had undergone in the past 10 years appeared to have weighed heavily in his favour.
The court had also upheld the conviction of three others -- businessman Rajeev Gupta and his two employees Bhola Nath and Shyam Singh -- for destruction of evidence but halved their jail term.
Gupta's sentence was reduced to six months prison term from one year awarded by a trial court. His two employees were awarded three months jail term, down from their six months sentence.