The legal position is, thus, fairly well settled that imprisonment for life is a sentence for the remainder of the life of the offender unless of course the remaining sentence is commuted or remitted by the competent authority. That being so, the provisions of Section 31 under Code of Criminal Procedure must be so interpreted as to be consistent with the basic tenet that a life sentence requires the prisoner to spend the rest of his life in prison. Any direction that requires the offender to undergo imprisonment for life twice over would be anomalous and irrational for it will disregard the fact that humans like all other living beings have but one life to live. So understood Section 31(1) would permit consecutive running of sentences only if such sentences do not happen to be life sentences. That is, in our opinion, the only way one can avoid an obvious impossibility of a prisoner serving two consecutive life sentences. {Para 18}
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Criminal Appeal No. 5072 of 2026
Decided On: 27.10.2026
Raju Shantaram Koli Vs. The State of Maharashtra
Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
K.V. Viswanathan and Arun Palli, JJ.
Author: K.V. Viswanathan, J.
Citation: 2026 INSC 1161, MANU/SC/1223/2026.
Read full judgment here: Click here.
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