Mitigating circumstances in awarding death sentence
In Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, the Supreme Court held that following mitigating circumstances are relevant and must be given weightage in determination of sentence.
- The age of the accused.
- The probability that the accused would not commit criminal acts of violence as would constitute a continuing threat to the society.
- The probability that the accused can be reformed and rehabilitated.
- That in the facts and circumstances of the case the accused believed that he was morally justified in committing the offence.
- That the accused acted under the duress or domination of another person.
- That to condition of the accused showed that he was mentally defective and that the said defect impaired his capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct.
Case 1; In State of Tamil Nadu v. T. Suthanthiraraja, the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, was killed under a conspiracy and main accused were granted death penalty, treating it as rarest of the rare cases. Mere fact that one of the convict was woman and mother of a child, who was born while she was in custody, was not considered a ground for not awarding her with the extreme penalty.[4]
Case 2; In State v. Sushil Sharma the accused pursuing political career was living with the deceased, a fellow female leader, without claiming her to be his wife. He shot her in the head, and subsequently cut off her head and limbs and attempted to burn them in a Tandoor. It was held that the act of the accused reflected extreme depravity and it would fall within category of rarest of the rare case.
Case 3; In Swamy Sharaddananda @ Murli Manohar Mishra v. State of Karnataka, the death of wife was caused by administering a high dose of sleeping drugs and she was kept alive in a wooden box. Subsequently, she was buried in a pit dug outside bedroom. This was deemed as a premeditated and cold blooded murder but no physical or mental pain was caused to the victim. Hence, case was not considered as rarest of the rare case and death sentence was substituted by life imprisonment for rest of the life.
Case 4; In Prajeet Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar, the accused had committed murder of three children of his landlord and had injured his landlord, wife, and their eldest son. The accused had not paid the due amount for rent and food and when the landlord demanded payment, he lured them into his home and committed the crime. Convicting the accused and confirming death penalty it was observed that helpless victim have been murdered which is indicative of the fact that the act was diabolic of the superlative degree in conception and cruel in execution and does not fall within any comprehension of the basic humanness which indicate the mindset which cannot be said to be amenable for any reformation. The accused was entitled to death penalty.[5]
Case 5; In State of Tamil Nadu v. Rajendran, the accused had strangulated his wife and set his hut on fire. His wife and two children were burnt and witness had seen him coming out of the hut and standing outside as without raising any alarm. It was held that circumstances were indicating that the accused was perpetrator of crime and he was rightly convicted under section 302/436 IPC but death sentence was altered to imprisonment for life as it was not a rarest of the rare case.[4]