In Brief
Pradeep Bachhar was convicted under the NDPS Act and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with a fine and 2-year default sentence. The Supreme Court allowed his appeal and reduced both the substantive sentence to 10 years and the default sentence to 6 months, recognising that his poor financial circumstances made the original default sentence oppressive. Following precedent, the Court held that considering the offender's ability to pay and impact on innocent family members, a substantial reduction in the default sentence serves the ends of justice and prevents serious hardship."
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