On 11 September 2025, the Supreme Court of India exonerated the life sentence of Dr. Rakesh Dutt Sharma who had killed an attacker in self-defence. The case had occurred on 25 June 1993 when Karan Singh had entered the clinic of Dr. Sharma in Haridwar with a pistol and fired at him. In the process, Dr. Sharma took the weapon and killed Singh. Although, he was found guilty by the trial court and Uttarakhand High Court of offence under section 304 Part I IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment the act was alleged to be an exercise of personal defence, Dr. Sharma appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court established that the right to use self-defence could not be put in a golden scale where it had to be evaluated considering the standpoint of a reasonable person who was in danger. It believed that the reaction of Dr. Sharma to an unproven assault by an armed man was understandable. His conviction and life sentence were, therefore, put at bay until thus strengthening the principle protecting self-defence against imminent threats as legally guaranteed.