<p>Commuting the death penalty given to a businessman for killing his wife and two children, the Delhi High Court has awarded him life imprisonment saying it would imply jail term for "the rest of his life."<br /><br /></p>.<p>A division bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Pratibha refused to confirm the death sentence of businessman Naveen Ahuja's and commuted it to the life-long imprisonment saying despite his shocking crime, the convict cannot be said to be "irredeemable as a human being."<br /><br />"Though the heartless nature of the crime is shocking, yet, it cannot be said that the appellant (Ahuja) is irredeemable as a human being, he is not 'shut out from God and man' for the court to say that death penalty is the only sentence fit for his crime." the court said.<br /><br />"The sentence of death imposed by the trial court is not confirmed, it is accordingly reduced to life imprisonment, which, shall mean the rest of his life," the court said.<br /><br />The trial court had awarded Ahuja death penalty in October 2010 saying "life imprisonment was an inadequate punishment" and the case was the "rarest of rare" one.<br /><br />According to the prosecution, Ahuja, facing financial crisis, had first shot dead his wife Meenu with a country-made pistol and had then strangled his minor daughter and son.<br /><br />He later threw the bodies of his minor children to the ground from his seventh floor apartment at Dwarka in West Delhi July 18, 2005.<br /><br />While the two children died instantaneously, his wife had battled for life in a city hospital, but later succumbed to her injuries. Ahuja had later surrendered before police and said he had committed the act in a fit of rage, the prosecution had said.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Commuting the death penalty given to a businessman for killing his wife and two children, the Delhi High Court has awarded him life imprisonment saying it would imply jail term for "the rest of his life."<br /><br /></p>.<p>A division bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Pratibha refused to confirm the death sentence of businessman Naveen Ahuja's and commuted it to the life-long imprisonment saying despite his shocking crime, the convict cannot be said to be "irredeemable as a human being."<br /><br />"Though the heartless nature of the crime is shocking, yet, it cannot be said that the appellant (Ahuja) is irredeemable as a human being, he is not 'shut out from God and man' for the court to say that death penalty is the only sentence fit for his crime." the court said.<br /><br />"The sentence of death imposed by the trial court is not confirmed, it is accordingly reduced to life imprisonment, which, shall mean the rest of his life," the court said.<br /><br />The trial court had awarded Ahuja death penalty in October 2010 saying "life imprisonment was an inadequate punishment" and the case was the "rarest of rare" one.<br /><br />According to the prosecution, Ahuja, facing financial crisis, had first shot dead his wife Meenu with a country-made pistol and had then strangled his minor daughter and son.<br /><br />He later threw the bodies of his minor children to the ground from his seventh floor apartment at Dwarka in West Delhi July 18, 2005.<br /><br />While the two children died instantaneously, his wife had battled for life in a city hospital, but later succumbed to her injuries. Ahuja had later surrendered before police and said he had committed the act in a fit of rage, the prosecution had said.<br /><br /></p>