New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday converted the death penalty of a murder accused into life imprisonment for a fixed term of 20 years without remission, saying “the present case is not a case wherein it can be held that imposition of death penalty is the only alternative”.
A bench comprising justices B R Gavai, B V Nagarathna, and Prashant Kumar Mishra said: “We find that the interest of justice would be met by converting death penalty into life imprisonment i.e. actual imprisonment for a period of 20 years without remission”.
The apex court judgment came on appeals filed by appellants Madan and Sudesh Pal challenging the Allahabad High Court judgment. The high court confirmed the reference regarding the death penalty for Madan, whereas Pal’s plea was partly allowed and the sentence of capital punishment imposed on him was converted to life imprisonment. The accused were convicted for murder of six persons, by firing indiscriminately at them, due to village election rivalry. An FIR was registered on October 14, 2003, regarding the incident and charge sheet was filed against Madan, Kanwar Pal, Ishwar, Pal, and others.
Justice Gavia, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said: “We find that the high court was not justified in imposing death penalty on appellant Madan while converting the death penalty imposed upon Sudesh Pal to life imprisonment. If the judgment of the High Court is maintained, it would lead to an anomalous situation”. The bench noted that whereas Pal would be entitled for consideration of his case for remission and pre-mature release on completion of a particular number of years in accordance with the relevant rules, appellant Madan will have to face the death penalty.
“Taking into consideration all these factors, we find that the present case is not a case wherein it can be held that imposition of death penalty is the only alternative. Another reason that weighs with us is that from the evidence of the witnesses, it is clear that the role attributed to all the accused persons has been similar," said the bench, in its 76-page judgment.
The bench noted that the evidence of witnesses would show that the role attributed is that all the accused persons including both the appellants herein had fired shots and indiscriminately indulged in the firing. “The trial court imposed capital sentence on appellants Madan and Sudesh Pal. However, insofar as accused Ishwar is concerned, though the evidence against him is on similar lines, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The High Court, on the basis of the same evidence, though confirmed the death penalty insofar as appellant Madan is concerned, partly allowed the appeal of Sudesh Pal and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment”, noted the bench.
