'No need for Singham or Pushpa': Bihar BJP MLA gets 4-year jail for celebratory firing that killed woman in Delhi

ANew delhi margaret court on sat sentenced Bihar BJP MLA Raju Kumar Singh to 4 years in prison house for the death of a woman in celebratory firing inside his farmhouse in South Delhi’s Fatehpur Beri on New Year’s Eve in 2018, with the judge slamming the gun culture and saying “we need neither a Singham nor a Pushpa in a state governed by the rule of law”.Court slams gun culture“We need neither a Singham nor a Pushpa in a state governed by the rule of law. The brazen act of firing by Raju Kumar Singh was, however, an inspiration to both such aspirations,” said Special Judge Vishal Gogne of Rouse Avenue Court in his order, while referring to the two protagonists in popular films who are on opposite sides of the law and indulge in a brazen display of violence.The court also directed Singh to pay ₹25 lakh as compensation to the family of the victim, 45-year-old Archana Gupta.“The court finds it quite foreseeable that such acts of firing by a MLA embolden others to emulate such conduct in similar or even larger measure. The rank and file of those who seek macho gratification with the imagery of guns being fired would include not only the lawless criminals but also uniform clad protectors of the law,” the Judge added.4-year jail term, compensation orderSingh was convicted last month under Section 304 part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder with knowledge) of the IPC and under provisions of the Arms Act relating to contravention of licence conditions. The provision provides for a maximum imprisonment of ten years or fine, or both.“The court is of the satisfaction that a sentence of four years upon the convict would be an apposite and suitably stringent punishment for the commission of the offence under section 304 (Part II),” Judge Gogne said. He said a punishment of four years and the time it makes available to the convict for reflection and reform should, in the estimation of the court, serve as a sentence proportional to the offence and of potent deterrent value against similar acts of reckless firing by politicians and others alike in social functions.“The court deems it appropriate that a sentence of two months be imposed on the convict under section 30 of the Arms Act,” the judge added. He said that the sentences would run consecutively.Conviction may cost MLA Assembly membership“Considering that certain states in India are known to harbour illicit production facilities for local firearms, the sight of a MLA acting like a strongman by untrammelled use of firearms, even on social occasions, encourages an ecosystem of illicit firearms,” Judge Gogne said in the order.The conviction is likely to cost Singh his Assembly membership. Under the law, an elected representative sentenced to two years or more in a criminal case stands disqualified unless a higher court specifically stays the conviction.