India aims to curb judges’ arbitrary sentences for criminals, sources say

India plans to overhaul its criminal sentencing norms to counter accusations of arbitrary punishment, sources said, following public outrage over the 2022 rape conviction of a man within 30 minutes of trial, by a judge who handed him the death penalty.

A higher court in the eastern state of Bihar later overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial, saying the man had been denied the opportunity to defend himself and the judge had acted in “utmost haste”.

It also called for more training for the judge.