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“Article 21 of the Constitution does not end with the pronouncement of the sentence but extends to the execution stage of that sentence. An inordinate delay in the execution of the sentence of death has a dehumanising effect on the accused. An inordinate delay caused by circumstances beyond the prisoners’ control mandates the commutation of a death sentence.”
This report covers the Supreme Court’s Never Reported Judgment, on commutation of sentence, dating back to the year 1954.
Read about the significant criminal law matters heard and decided by the Supreme Court and High Courts in October 2024
The accused was arrested in 2012 on the suspicion of murdering his wife, mother and 2-year-old daughter. In 2016, the Trial Court convicted him and imposed death penalty which was confirmed by Bombay High Court
The Court affirmed the father’s conviction but converted the death penalty to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment without remission considering several mitigating factors favouring the accused.
The present case is the most brutal, barbaric, and gruesome murder of a 60-year-old mother by her son on 28-08-2017 at Makadwala Vasahat, Kolhapur, where her body parts, i.e., liver, intestine, heart, rib and breast were eviscerated outside
The prosecution case has crumbled like a house of cards. Neither the circumstances have been proved which can lead to a conclusion that the accused was complicit in offence, nor any consistent prosecution version has come which can be relied upon.
The Court permitted to put the questions mentioned in the questionnaire to the informant in the cross-examination. Regarding the evidentiary value of the same, the Court added that it will be decided during hearing of the criminal appeal and the application for confirmation of sentence.
The Court opined that the prosecution did not place any material or evidence to conclude that reformation, rehabilitation, and social re-integration of the accused into society was not possible.
Appointed directly from the Bar as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice P.S. Narasimha’s tenure as an advocate and as a Judge boasts of several landmark cases.
“The series of inhuman acts involved extreme brutality and exceptional depravity and the crime was committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting and dastardly manner.”
“The sword of justice given to a Judge has to be exercise with utmost responsibility and judiciously considering the reforms.”
Former CJI Justice UU Lalit released the 8th edition of Ahmad Siddique’s book “Criminology, Penology and Victimology” revised by Advocate Sanjay Vashishtha
“Murder was committed by him by 3 gunshot injuries to each of them, hence no doubt, such heinous crime should be deprecated and no amount of criticism can be given to such gruesome act, that too, of his own father and mother.”
This report covers the Supreme Court’s Never Reported Judgment dating back to the year 1952 on commutation of death sentence.
The Supreme Court held that the Court cannot be limited only to two punishments, one a sentence of imprisonment, for all intents and purposes, of not more than 14 years and the other death.
“The Trial Court has rightly convicted the accused and we do not find any illegality in the impugned judgment of conviction and therefore, the same deserves to be upheld.”
Though causing death of someone in itself is perversity, however causing death by smothering and inflicting injuries by jack handle though opined to be consistent with intense torture, cannot be held to be a diabolic or seriously perverse manner of committing murder so as to shock the collective conscience of the society and fall in the category of rarest of rare cases.
The Supreme Court also directed the competent authority to deal with the mercy petition later and take further decision as and when deemed necessary.
Justice P.S. Narasimha whose tenure as an advocate is full of landmark cases, became the 9th advocate to be directly elevated from the Bar to the Supreme Court judgeship.