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SC commutes death sentence of a man convicted of murdering 21
New Delhi, Aug 07: The Supreme Court has commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment of a man convicted of murdering 21 people, including young children, for being part of a gang who fired at and later burnt them in latched houses 17 years ago in an Uttar Pradesh village.
New Delhi, Aug 07: The Supreme Court has commuted the
death sentence to life imprisonment of a man convicted of
murdering 21 people, including young children, for being part
of a gang who fired at and later burnt them in latched houses
17 years ago in an Uttar Pradesh village.
Holding that murder of close relatives of the accused allegedly by the victim's family could have been a sudden provocation to commit the brutal murder, a bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice B P Singh said the number of years he had spent in jail, the punishment given to other accused and that he was not the gang leader could all be treated as mitigating circumstances to lessen the sentence. Justice Hegde, writing for the bench, said "it is true the incident in question has prematurely terminated the life of 21 people, but then the number of deaths cannot be the sole criterion for awarding the maximum punishment of death."
"While in a given case, death penalty may be the appropriate sentence even for a single murder, it would not necessarily mean that in every case of multiple murder death penalty has to be the normal punishment," he said.
The court also took into account the fact that the role played by appellant, Ram Pal, was somewhat similar to other accused persons who have been given lesser punishment.
Bureau Report
Holding that murder of close relatives of the accused allegedly by the victim's family could have been a sudden provocation to commit the brutal murder, a bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice B P Singh said the number of years he had spent in jail, the punishment given to other accused and that he was not the gang leader could all be treated as mitigating circumstances to lessen the sentence. Justice Hegde, writing for the bench, said "it is true the incident in question has prematurely terminated the life of 21 people, but then the number of deaths cannot be the sole criterion for awarding the maximum punishment of death."
"While in a given case, death penalty may be the appropriate sentence even for a single murder, it would not necessarily mean that in every case of multiple murder death penalty has to be the normal punishment," he said.
The court also took into account the fact that the role played by appellant, Ram Pal, was somewhat similar to other accused persons who have been given lesser punishment.
Bureau Report