SC wants law for life imprisonment without remission

Crimes which shock collective conscience of society should be treated in the category of rarest of rare deserving death penalty, Supreme Court said.

New Delhi: Crimes which shock the collective conscience of society should be treated in the category of rarest of rare deserving death penalty, the Supreme Court today said even as it asked the government to make provision for life imprisonment without commutation or remission.

The apex court, which refused prosecution`s plea to enhance the life imprisonment to death in a case as the plea has been pending in the apex court for the last nine years, said that cases where enhancement of life sentence to death is sought should be given due priority. "While culling out the rarest of rare cases on the basis of aggravating and mitigating factors, we are of the view that such crimes, which shock the collective conscience of the society by creating extreme revulsion in the minds of the people, are to be treated as the rarest of rare category," a bench of justices C K Prasad and Kurian Joseph said. "We are of the view that it will do well in case a proper amendment under Section 53 of IPC is provided, introducing one more category of punishment - life imprisonment without commutation or remission," the bench said. PTI