The High Court reduced the sentence after noting that the orders passed by the trial court convicting the appellant and sentencing him to death were delivered on the same day.
The Chhattisgarh High Court recently commuted to life imprisonment the death penalty earlier awarded by the trial court to a man (appellant) convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and murdering a 4-year-old child in 2015 [In Reference of State of Chhattisgarh].
The High Court reduced the sentence after noting that the orders passed by the trial court convicting the appellant and sentencing him to death were delivered on the same day.
Among other factors, the Court observed that the appellant was not given an effective opportunity of hearing on the question of sentence.
The Court also found that no evidence was brought on record to prove that the appellant was beyond reformation.
“It is quite vivid that the Trial Court has convicted the Appellant and sentenced him to death on the same date, i.e., 30.10.2018. The Trial Court has not taken into consideration the probability of the Appellant to be reformed and rehabilitated and only took into consideration the crime and the manner in which it was committed by the Appellant. The Trial Court has also not given effective opportunity of hearing to the Appellant on the question of sentence,” the Court said.
The judges further took into consideration that the reports from the jail where the appellant was placed, indicated that his behaviour was good and that he had committed no further offences while in jail.
The bench also observed that the appellant was young, around 20 years of age, when the offence was committed.
He is also a member of the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe and the chances of him being reformed and rehabilitated cannot be ruled out, the Court opined.
After careful deliberation, the Court believed that the imposition of the maximum penalty of capital punishment was unjustified in this case.
Hence, the bench of Justices Sanjay K Agrawal and Arvind Singh Chandel decided to commute his death sentence to one of life imprisonment.
“We are of the view that this is not the rarest of the rare cases in which major penalty of death has to be confirmed. In our view, imprisonment for life would completely be adequate and would meet the ends of justice. Accordingly, we direct commutation of death sentence into imprisonment for life,” the Court’s order stated.
The Court clarified that the life sentence would mean that the appellant would remain imprisoned for the remainder of his natural life.
The Court passed the ruling on a reference made to confirm the trial court’s death sentence, as required under Section 366 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Along with this reference, the Court also heard the appeal challenging the conviction and death sentence awarded to the appellant.
The appellant had been convicted for murder, rape and kidnapping under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).
The appellant’s counsel asserted that the trial court had convicted him without there being sufficient and clinching evidence on record.
The Court, however, dismissed the appeal in so far as the conviction of the appellant was concerned.
“The conviction of the Appellant under Sections 363, 376(2)(i) and 302 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act is confirmed, but, his sentence of death is commuted to imprisonment for life by maintaining the fine amount,” the Court ordered.
