The Supreme Court has advised courts not to show undue sympathy for criminals as it would undermine public confidence in the efficacy of law,and promote lawlessness in the country. Undue sympathy (leading) to impose inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system by undermining the public confidence in the efficacy of law, observed a Bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat. It is,therefore,the duty of every court to award proper sentence having regard to the nature of the offence and the manner in which it was executed. The Bench,which also comprised Justice M K Sharma,noted: The contagion of lawlessness would undermine social order and lay it in ruins. Protection of society and stamping out criminal proclivity must be the object of law which must be achieved by imposing appropriate sentence. The observations formed part of a judgment,where the apex court partly set aside an earlier ruling of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had reduced the imprisonment in an attempt to murder case.
