Death penalty shall be awarded in rarest of rare cases

 

DEATH PENALTY SHALL BE AWARDED IN RAREST OF RARE CASES

 

Death punishment is awarded for murder in rarest of the rare cases. It may be awarded as punishment for the following offences:-

1.     Waging war against the government of India (sec 121)

2.     Abetting mutiny actually committed (sec. 132)

3.     Giving or fabricating false evidence upon which an innocent person suffers death (sec. 194)

4.     Murder(se.302)

5.     Abetment of suicide of a minor, or an insane an intoxicated person       (s. 305)

6.     Dacoity accompanied with murder (s.396)

7.     Attempt to murder by a person under sentence of imprisonment for life, if hurt is caused (s.307)

 

Decided cases:

Bachan singh Vs state of Punjab, 1980 Cr LJ  636: AIR  1980 SC 898. The minimum sentence awardable under S.302 being life imprisonment, it has been held that the sentence cannot be reduced. Dort V State of UP 1991 Cr LJ 3139 (ALL) DadasahebMsal v state of Maharastra, 1987 cr LJ 1512 (bom) see Triventhen V state of Gujarat, 1990 Cr 273 (Guj), where execution of death sentence was not stayed simply because a mercy petition before the president before the president was pending when an early merely petition stood rejected. For an example of enhancing of sentence because the high court had awarded too low a Cr LJ 2600(1990) SCC (cri) 38.  In a prosecution  of 31 accused persons for murdering some harijans, only 3 were awarded death sentence and the rest life imprisonment, the supreme court  converted their death sentence into life, because the charge of conspiracy had failed. Kannan v state of TN 1989 Cr LJ 825: AIR 1989 SC 396: 1989 supp (1) SCC 8.