Question

Under Section 57 of Indian Penal Code, in calculating fractions of terms of punishment, 'imprisonment for life' shall be reckoned as equivalent to imprisonment for:

• A. twenty years
• B. twelve years
• C. thirty years
• D. imprisonment till death

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The Correct Option is (A): twenty years.

Answer 2

This question tests the interpretation clause under Section 57 of the Indian Penal Code, which fixes a notional length for "imprisonment for life" for the limited purpose of calculating fractions of a sentence (such as when a court has to work out one-half or one-third of a term). Let's look at each option.

1. Twenty years: Section 57 IPC states that in fractional-calculation cases, imprisonment for life shall be reckoned as equivalent to imprisonment for twenty years. This is the exact statutory equivalence and is the correct choice.
2. Twelve years: No provision of the IPC fixes twelve years as the notional length of a life sentence; this number does not appear in Section 57 or any related provision.
3. Thirty years: Thirty years is sometimes loosely used in sentencing discussions (for instance, certain remission policies), but it is not the figure Section 57 itself uses for computing fractions of a term.
4. Imprisonment till death: While "imprisonment for life" in ordinary usage does mean imprisonment for the remainder of a convict's natural life, Section 57 does not use "till death" as its notional figure; it uses a fixed twenty-year equivalence purely as a computational device.

Section 57 exists only to give courts a fixed number to divide when a statute prescribes a sentence as a fraction of imprisonment for life, and that fixed number is twenty years; it does not shorten an actual life sentence, which still runs for the convict's natural life unless remitted.

So the correct answer is twenty years.