RANJIT SINGH SARPANCH vs THE UNION TERRITORY OF CHANDIGARH

The Supreme Court clarified that under Section 427(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, a life sentence must be treated as imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's natural life unless commuted or remitted. The Court held that a subsequent life sentence cannot run consecutively to an earlier life sentence, as a person has only one life span. Therefore, any remission or commutation granted for the earlier sentence does not affect the subsequent sentence, which remains in effect unless similarly addressed.