Additional Sessions Judge, Kulgam, Parvaiz Iqbal also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh each on the convicts, Mohammad Amin Bhat, Rauf Ahmed Bhat and Younis Ahmed Bhat.
If they fail to deposit the fine amount, they shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for a further period of six months, the judge said in his order.
However, he said, the period of detention already undergone by the accused during the period of trial would be taken into consideration.
The three were involved in an altercation with the victim Bashir Ahmad Parray in Kulgam district on September 9, 2016 which led to the latter’s death at a hospital in Srinagar.
The judge convicted the three for culpable homicide while noting that the accused did not have any previous enmity with the deceased.
The judge said the accused have prayed for showing them leniency on the grounds that all of them were from one family and due to their incarceration in jail, they as well as their family has suffered immensely.
The accused also prayed that two of them were students and as a result of the jail term, their whole career has doomed irreparably.
However, the prosecution strongly objected to the plea for leniency.
The prosecution, led by additional public prosecutor Zia ur Rehman Khan, said it will be a mockery of justice to permit the accused to escape the extreme penalty of law when faced with such evidence.
The common man will lose faith in the courts, Khan added.
He said it is the duty of every court to award proper sentence and that undue sympathy would do more harm to the justice system.
