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Default sentence is not to be merged with or allowed to run concurrently with a substantive sentence

In Sharad Hiru Kolambe Vs. State of Maharashtra and Ors, the accused was charged and convicted by the High Court under several major criminal acts/sections. While he had served the required time in prison, he was not released due to inability to pay the fines imposed under the said acts/sections and the penalty for such non-payment is prison term of 10 years.

The Ld. counsel for the convict pleaded that while all other sentence were run concurrently as ordered by the Court, the default sentence should also run concurrently.

The Supreme Court at the outset, noted that default sentence is not to be merged with or allowed to run concurrently with a substantive sentence. It further observed that theoretically, if the default sentences awarded in respect of imposition of fine in connection with two or more offences are to be clubbed or directed to run concurrently, there would not be any occasion for the persons so sentenced to deposit the fine in respect of the second or further offences. It would effectively mean imposition of one single or combined sentence of fine. Such an exercise would render the very idea of imposition of fine with a deterrent stipulation while awarding sentence in default of payment of fine to be meaningless.

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