JODHPUR, March 6 -- The Rajasthan High Court, while hearing a plea to suspend a sentence, observed that human dignity and personal liberty must remain central considerations when criminal appeals remain pending for decades. Drawing a line between pre-conviction bail and post-conviction relief, a single bench of Justice Farjand Ali observed, "While the power exercised under Section 439 CrPC is essentially discretionary in nature and operates at the pre-conviction stage, the jurisdiction under Section 389 CrPC, though also discretionary, is qualitatively different and operates post-conviction. Under Section 389 CrPC, the appellate court is vested with a distinct authority; however, the core consideration before the appellate forum must necessarily be whether the judgment of conviction and the consequent order of sentence are sustainable in the eyes of law." It said that when the sustainability of the conviction itself becomes debatable and prima facie, it appears that the conviction may be reversed, the appellate court ought to suspend the sentence pending disposal of the appeal. "In the High Court, thousands of criminal appeals have remained pending for the last 20-30 years, including jail appeals, where even the likelihood of an early hearing does not appear forthcoming. In such matters, instead of taking an irreversible risk, the court must proceed on the safer side by placing paramount importance on human dignity and personal liberty." The court suspended the one-year sentence given to Roop Singh under the NDPS Act. HTC...