In the first conviction in an honour killing case in Kerala, the Kottayam Municipal Sessions Court on Tuesday awarded double life sentence to all 10 convicts in the sensational Kevin Joseph murder. The court had also observed that the murder was of "the rarest of rare" nature.

However, the nitty-gritty of a life sentence or a double life sentence and its implications still remain in a cloud of mystery for most from non-legal backgrounds.

Life imprisonment

The sentence of life imprisonment means imprisonment for the rest of life or the remainder of life of the convict.

Life-term convicts can always apply for obtaining remission either under Articles 72 or 161 of the Constitution or under Section 432 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the authority would be obliged to consider the same reasonably.

The state may suspend this remission if the conditions laid out are not fulfilled by the convict concerned.

Minimum term to be served when death penalty is an alternative punishment

According to the restrictions provided in Section 433-A of CrPC, in cases where the person has been convicted for an offence for which death is one of the punishments provided by law, he/she cannot be released from prison unless he/she has served at least 14 years of imprisonment. The same restriction also applies in cases where a death penalty has been commuted to life imprisonment.

Life imprisonment in honour killing cases

Though convicts may be freed after a span of 14 years in certain cases, this clause is not applicable in a case deemed to be honour killing. It is imperative that those convicted in this category must serve a life sentence of at least 25 years, the Supreme Court clarifies.

The higher courts in the country are expected to give clarification on individual sentences of such nature in the coming days owing to widespread misgivings on this count.

Though harsh parole conditions are usual in such cases, nothing has been specified in the sentence awarded by the Kottayam court in the Kevin case.

Double life imprisonment

The Supreme Court has clarified that a double life sentence will work as a single life sentence effectively.

According to Section 31 of CrPC, when a person is convicted in one trial for two or more offences, the convict may serve them one after the other unless the court directs that they may be served concurrently.

However, in case of multiple life sentences, they are to be served concurrently and not consecutively as the life sentence by default continues to the end of one's life.

In case of a double life imprisonment, a sentence is superimposed on another sentence. That is, even if one sentence is remitted, the next sentence would kick in depriving the convict the ability to enjoy the remission of the first sentence.

In cases where both a life sentence and a limited-term sentence are awarded, the convict will serve the term sentence before graduating to the life sentence.