The special public prosecutor who handled the trial in the Aman Kachroo ragging death case has written to the state government to file an appeal in the Himachal Pradesh High Court against the decision of the District and Sessions Court,Dharamsala,to prosecute the accused under culpable homicide charges instead of murder. District and Sessions Judge Purinder Vaidya had convicted four students Naveen Verma,Ajay Verma,Abhinav Verma and Mukul Sharma for ragging Aman to death at a medical college in Kangra in 2009. After a trial that lasted for about one-and-a-half years,the court sentenced them to four years of rigorous imprisonment on November 11. Special Public Prosecutor Jeevan Lal Sharma has written to the principal secretary (Home),through prosecution director,expressing dissatisfaction over the decision of the lower court. On November 15,I wrote to the principal secretary that acquittal of the four accused under Section 302 of the IPC was not justified and also their sentence under Section 304 II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder),452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt,assault or wrongful restraint) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC was inadequate. I have suggested the government that it is a fit case for appeal, Sharma told The Indian Express. District Attorney,Kangra,R L Saini,meanwhile,said the letter had reached him but the official copy of the lower courts verdict was still awaited. Further course of action will be decided after that, he said. Aman Kachroo,19,a first-year MBBS student at the Rajindra Prasad Government Medical College,Tanda (Kangra),died of brain haemorrhage on March 8,2009,after being severely beaten up by his seniors,who were allegedly in an inebriated state,on March 7.
