Stay on Conviction Can’t Be Granted Merely Because Sentence Is Suspended: Supreme Court
Court pointed out that suspension of sentence and stay on conviction operate on different parameters and cannot be conflated
Supreme Court says conviction stay not automatic with sentence suspension
The Supreme Court has said suspension of sentence would not invariably lead to stay on conviction, unless an exceptional case is made out for it.
A bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai (since retired) and Justice K Vinod Chandran allowed an appeal filed by the victim's father against the judgment and order of July 10, 2024 passed by the division bench of the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan at Jaipur.
The High Court granted stay on the conviction as recorded in the order on February 23, 2023 passed by the Special Courts, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
The convict had been found guilty of the offence punishable under Sections 305 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 3/4 of the POCSO Act, 2012 and Section 3(1)(w) and 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Court noted that a perusal of the impugned judgment and order revealed that the High Court had granted a stay on conviction solely on the ground that the application for suspension of sentence had already been allowed by it on April 19, 2023.
"It is more than a settled law that the parameter for consideration while suspending the sentence and the parameter for staying the conviction are totally different. Unless an exceptional case is made out, the courts are not supposed to grant a stay of conviction,'' the bench said.
In the present case, court noted, the only reason assigned was that since the High Court had already allowed the application for suspension of sentence, the application for stay of conviction also deserved to be allowed.
"We find that the High Court has failed to apply its mind to the facts of the present case. No reasons have been recorded as to how the case of respondent No.2 is exceptional or amounts to the 'rarest of the rare', warranting a stay of conviction," the bench said.
On this short ground, the court remitted the matter to the High Court for consideration afresh in accordance with its observations.
Case Title: Victim Father Vs State of Rajasthan & Anr
Order Date: November 20, 2025
Bench: Chief Justice of India B R Gavai (since retired) and Justice K Vinod Chandran