On Thursday (17th September), the Supreme Court bench comprising CJI BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chauhan suspended the jail sentence of a Christian pastor Father Edwin Pigarez, who was convicted of raping a minor girl.
The apex court grant bail to Edwin Pigarez even as his appeals against the High Court’s conviction ruling are still pending. The court said that the appellant has already undergone imprisonment for almost 10 years.
“…even if this Court accepts the sentence of 20 imposed by the High Court, the applicant/appellant has still undergone half of the sentence,” the court said.
Considering that the convict had served 10 years in jail, the court suspended his sentence and granted him bail till the time his pending appeals in the High Court are not heard.
“We are inclined to suspend the sentence of the applicant/appellant, during the pendency of the appeal(s). The appellant is directed to be released on bail in connection with Sessions Case No.`203 of 2016, on such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the Trial Court,” the court said.
Notably, in February last year, the Kerala High Court upheld Pigarez’s conviction. Edwin Pigarez was convicted for repeated rape and sexual assault of a minor girl in his parish. The court, however, reduced the sentence imposed upon him by the Special Court from life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life to rigorous imprisonment of twenty years without remission.