Is capital punishment effective in bringing down crime rates?

written by Narsi Benwal December 29, 2018

Mumbai: Even if the death sentence is legal and constitutionally valid, it is not the punishment for any crime. The history has proved how capital punishment has failed to be deterrent in the society as, despite convicts being hanged, crimes continue to take place in the society.

The debate on the abolition of death sentence has caught pace once again after the Bombay High Court, last week, confirmed the capital punishment of Chandrabhan Sanap, who had raped and killed Esther Anuhya, a software engineer. The judgment delivered by the bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre also refers to the observations of Justice Kurien Joseph of the Supreme Court, who sparked the latest debate on the death sentence. In a judgment, Justice Joseph delivered on his retirement day, he expressed the need of the hour to review the if death penalty as a punishment is necessary, especially its purpose and practice.’

The death sentence is vehemently opposed by advocate Navkiran Singh, a human rights lawyer, who thinks India will require at least one century for abolishing capital punishment. While speaking exclusively to The Free Press Journal, Singh said, “No punishment is deterrent to others as nobody cares. Why kill? Will hanging a person bring down the crime rates? The problem is we are not trying to find out the reasons as to why people are resorting to crime.” “We as a society are too good than that of western countries. At least our rehabilitation system still works. We do not have a large number of repeat offenders as compared to that of the western world. Still, we are continuing with this punishment whereas they (western countries) have abolished it,” said Singh, the general secretary of Lawyers for Human Rights International (LHRI).

The LHRI is a worldwide organisation fighting for human rights. It strongly demands the abolition of death punishment from India. According to Singh, Indians need to learn from Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, who pardoned the killers of their father and former PM Rajiv Gandhi. “We live in a country where reactions are immediate. Ours is an immature democracy. We need to learn a lot from Rahul and Priyanka (Gandhi) how they pardoned killers of their father. I think making citizens understand this will take another century,” Singh added. “One has to look at the fact that even if death sentence is imposed on certain persons, will the crime rates come down? Take example of Delhi gang rape case wherein death has been pronounced and even confirmed by the top court. Still we can see rape cases being reported daily,” Singh said.

Justice (retd). P B Sawant of the Supreme Court, however, thinks death sentence must be given only in specific cases which leaves no room for any other punishment. “I believe death is the only punishment for serial killers, contract killers and so on. These are basically persons who do not think or hesitate even for a second before killing a human being. Such people deserve such a punishment,” Justice Sawant said. Justice Sawant further opined that in cases of gang rape or death after rape, death sentence is the only option. “Such offences need to be stopped and the same can be stopped only when most deterrent punishment is imposed on the wrong doers. Also, even if one accept the argument that there can be an alternative to death sentence, I do not think there can be a stern punishment than this,” said Justice Sawant, who had sent a serial killer to gallows in 1970s, when he was the judge of the Bombay High Court. “There is no other punishment as stern as death. Also, there is no point in letting such people live in the jails. Thus, death sentence cannot be totally abolished,” Justice Sawant said.

Source: https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/is-capital-punishment-effective-in-bringing-down-crime-rates/1424515 (Accessed 29 December 2018)

Child abuse: More death penalty, longer jail terms

Written by Shalini Nair |New Delhi |Updated: December 29, 2018 6:44:58 am

WCD Ministry officials said that the amendment was necessary as POCSO, unlike the Indian Penal Code (IPC), is a gender-neutral law that protects both boys and girls under the age of 18.

The Union Cabinet Friday approved amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, to include the death penalty in all cases of aggravated penetrative sexual assault against children, both boys and girls, below the age of 18. This covers 21 categories of sexual crimes against children. The amendments also extend the punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault from a minimum of 10 years to a minimum of 20 years, up to a maximum of life imprisonment and even the death penalty under Section 6 of POCSO Act. Its existing definition covers 20 categories of penetrative sexual crimes against children and the Cabinet also approved adding sexual assault of children who are victims of calamities or natural disasters, taking it up to 21 categories.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development, which moved the Cabinet note, said: “In the wake of gruesome and heart-wrenching incidents, there has been a growing demand from society to arrest the disturbing trend by introducing stringent punishment including the death penalty for rape cases.”

EXPLAINED

POCSO now gender neutral, convictions keyThe amendments come months after the Cabinet approved the death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12. They widen the range of cases of sexual assault against boys and girls under 18 that are now punishable by death. The government says a more stringent POCSO will act as a deterrent. But data show that less than 3% of all POCSO cases end in convictions and experts warn against the chilling effect the death penalty may have on reporting the crime. Systemic changes in law enforcement and prosecution hold the key to tackling child sexual abuse.

WCD Ministry officials said that the amendment was necessary as POCSO, unlike the Indian Penal Code (IPC), is a gender-neutral law that protects both boys and girls under the age of 18. “The earlier amendment by the Home Ministry allowed the death penalty only in cases of sexual assault of girls below 12 years. Our amendment, if approved by Parliament, will not only allow a maximum of the death penalty in case of sexual assault of boy victims under 12 years but also in all cases where a child under 18 years is sexually assaulted in an aggravated manner,” said a senior WCD official. In its cabinet note, the ministry has cited reported rapes of young girls in the aftermath of Kedarnath floods and that children constitute 50-60% of victims of calamities to make a case for including rapes in course of natural calamities as the 21st category. Section 4 of POCSO on ‘Penetrative sexual assault’ also has been amended to extend the punishment from the existing seven years to ten years if the child is 16-17 years old and to a minimum of 20 years if the child is below the age of 16. The maximum sentence in these cases remains life imprisonment.

The definition of ‘sexual assault’ in POCSO has been amended to include administering hormones to children expedite their sexual maturity for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Moreover, punitive measures have been made more stringent in cases where children are used for pornography as well as for storing such content. In a statement after the Cabinet decision, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad it was unfortunate that some minors are administered hormones to make them appear adult. He said, “This is a wholesome initiative whereby the entire POCSO architecture is not only strengthened but also enlarged so that artificial medicines or hormones could not be abused to kill the childliness of a child.” The 21 categories under aggravated penetrative sexual assault, in addition to the death penalty for sexually assaulting children below the age of 12, cover child victims under the age of 18 years, who have been subject to penetrative sexual assault by a police officer or a member of the armed forces or security forces, by a public servant, a relative, the staff of a jail or remand home or protection home, staff of a hospital, educational institution, or religious institution among others.

It also includes the gangrape of a child or use of deadly weapons during penetrative sexual assault, a sexual assault that incapacitates the child physically or mentally, makes a girl child pregnant, inflicts the child with HIV or any life-threatening disease. The maximum punishment of death will also be applicable when sexual assault victims are children with mental or physical disabilities, in cases of repeat offenders, rape and attempt to murder, and rape during communal violence.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/pocso-child-abuse-sexual-harassment-cabinet-meeting-5514445/ (Accessed 29 December 2018)

Reviving the blog once more...

Dear Readers,

I took a break from the blog for sometime due to personal reasons. The last post was on 7 June 2015. I wish to update for this missing period and continue to work on it. In between, I published my book on experiences of prisoners on death row in India. This was the first academic study conducted in India on death penalty. 

Please find a link for this book here:

https://www.routledge.com/Prisoner-Voices-from-Death-Row-Indian-Experiences/George/p/book/9781472461728

Hoping that one day India abolishes Death Penalty.
Best, 
Reena Mary George

Prisoner Voices on Death Row, By Reena Mary George, 2015

SC commutes death penalty of man who raped killed 3-yr-old girl (Maharashtra)

PTI December 12, 2018 18:22 IST

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence awarded to a man for raping and murdering a three-year-old girl in 2007 and directed that he be not released from jail for the "rest of his normal life". 

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur observed that the trial court, the Bombay High Court and also the apex court had earlier not taken into consideration the probability of reformation, rehabilitation and social re-integration of the convict into society while awarding him death penalty. Rajendra Pralhadrao Wasnik was awarded death sentence by a trial court in Amravati in September 2008 for raping and murdering a minor girl in the intervening night of March 2-3, 2007. The trial court's verdict was upheld by the high court in March 2009 following which Wasnik had moved the apex court. The apex court had dismissed his appeal in February 2012 and later, his plea seeking review of the judgement was also rejected by the top court in March 2013.

However, in March 2015, his review petition was restored following a constitution bench judgement in which the apex court had held that appeals pending before it in death sentence cases be heard only by a bench of three-judges. While commuting the death sentence, the bench said the prosecution was "remiss in not producing the available DNA evidence and the failure to produce material evidence must lead to an adverse presumption against the prosecution and in favour of the appellant (Wasnik) for the purposes of sentencing". "For all these reasons, we are of opinion that it would be more appropriate looking to the crimes committed by the appellant and the material on record including his overall personality and subsequent events, to commute the sentence of death awarded to the appellant but direct that he should not be released from custody for the rest of his normal life," said the bench, also comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta.

Dealing with the aspect of death penalty, the bench said that the words - 'sentenced to death' - would have a chilling effect on anyone, including a hardened criminal and though the society demands such punishment, there was no conclusive study on its deterrent impact. It said there were views which suggest that punishment for a crime must be looked at with a more "humanitarian lens" and the causes for driving a person to commit a heinous crime must be explored. "There is also a view that it must be determined whether it is possible to reform, rehabilitate and socially reintegrate into society even a hardened criminal along with those representing the victims of the crime," it said. "These conflicting views make it very difficult for courts to take a decision and without expert evidence on the subject, courts are ill-equipped to form an objective opinion," the bench said.

Referring to various judgements rendered by the court earlier, the bench observed the law clearly and unequivocally mandates that probability that a convict can be reformed and rehabilitated in society must be seriously and earnestly considered by the courts before awarding death sentence. "Therefore, we should not forget that the criminal, however ruthless he might be, is nevertheless a human being and is entitled to a life of dignity notwithstanding his crime. Therefore, it is for the prosecution and the courts to determine whether such a person, notwithstanding his crime, can be reformed and rehabilitated," it said. The bench noted that there could be instances where the social re-integration of the convict may not be possible and in such a case, the option of a long duration of imprisonment was permissible. "In other words, directing imprisonment for a period greater than 14 years (say 20 or 25 years) could unquestionably foreclose the imposition of a sentence of death, being an alternative option to capital punishment," it said.

It said the remarkable technological advancements in forensic science and scientific investigations must be fully used and the "archaic methods" of probe must be given up. The court said mere pendency of one or more criminal cases against a convict cannot be a factor for consideration while awarding a sentence as it violates the fundamental presumption of innocence – a human right - that everyone is entitled to. "It must be appreciated that a sentence of death should be awarded only in the rarest of rare cases, only if an alternative option is unquestionably foreclosed and only after full consideration of all factors keeping in mind that a sentence of death is irrevocable and irretrievable upon execution," it said. The bench, while noting that there were more than one criminal case against the convict, expressed shock and anguish that he had the opportunity to commit the offences alleged against him on more than one occasion. "This could have been possible only if the appellant had been on bail and our shock and anguish is that in the background of the facts before us, the appellant was actually granted bail," it said.

Source: https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2018/12/12/lgd12-sc-death.html (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Rape-Murder accused sentenced to the death penalty (Uttarakhand)

ANI | Updated: Dec 12, 2018 17:54 IST 

Dehradun: A Dehradun court  has awarded death sentence to an accused involved in a 2016 rape and murder case. ADJ 3rd Gurbaksh Singh pronounced the verdict on Wednesday. Azhar, the convict, is a resident of Vikasnagar. It was in January 2016 that the convict had raped the girl after a New Year party. He also murdered the victim after the sexual assault. (ANI)

Source: https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/uttarakhand-rape-murder-accused-sentenced-to-the-death-penalty201812121754150001/ (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Death Row Inmates: Scaling Down Sentences (India)

December 16, 2018

Recent court judgments have tended to take a more humane view of not just the issue of capital punishment but even issues relating to convicts waiting on death row

By Vipin Pubby in Chandigarh

Among the last judgments that Justice Kurien Joseph delivered before his retirement last month was one that commuted the death sentence of a murder accused to life imprisonment. In a minority judgment delivered on November 28, Justice Joseph noted that it was high time the imposition of death as a punishment, however heinous the crime, be reviewed. The two other judges on the bench agreed with him in commuting the sentence to life imprisonment, but differed on the issue of the constitutionality of capital punishment.

Public opinion in the country on the abolition of the death penalty remains sharply divided but some recent judgments of the Supreme Court and High Courts have tended to take a more humane view of not just the issue of capital punishment but even issues relating to convicts on death row. Courts are increasingly attempting to usher in reforms and are prodding the government to review some archaic laws dating back to the British era.

The Punjab Jail Manual, for instance, specifies that “every prisoner condemned to death is to be confined in a cell apart from all other prisoners, and is to be placed by day and by night under the charge of a special guard. No person can communicate with him without the authority of the Superintendent. The prisoner condemned to death is only permitted to occupy the courtyard of his cell for half an hour each morning and evening”. Taking cognisance of the provision, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier this month abolished the practice of keeping death row inmates in solitary confinement in Haryana jails. The High Court said that the rule was without authority of law and amounted to additional punishment. In its order, the Court called the provision “anarchic, cruel and insensitive”, reflective of “a colonial mindset”, and violative of Articles 20 (2) and 21 of the Constitution.

In a 111-page judgment, the Court said the practice “amounts to torture and is violative of a person’s basic human rights”. The bench comprising Justices Rajiv Sharma and Gurvinder Singh Gill also said the “convict shall not be segregated/isolated till the sentence of death has become final, conclusive and indefeasible which cannot be annulled or voided by any judicial process. The period to keep a convict sentenced to death in segregation/isolation should be for the shortest possible time, i.e. 2-3 days”. The order came as part of a judgment commuting the death sentence of three persons convicted by a Mahendergarh court for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old in 2014 to a mandatory 20-year term without remissions.

The court order for “abolishing” the rule is specific to the “practice” adopted by jail authorities in Haryana. However, the bench did not pass any order to remove the provision from the Punjab Jail Manual, which has been adopted by Haryana. Removal of the provision will require the Punjab government to make amendments to the Jail Manual, or the court, acting on a legal challenge, to quash the provision. The division bench passed the verdict in response to appeals filed by three convicts against the death sentence awarded to them and the murder reference sent by the trial court for confirmation by the High Court. The advocates representing them also pointed out that the convicts had been sent to solitary confinement immediately after being sentenced to death.

Last month, Justice Joseph along with Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud took up for review a case concerning capital punishment. The review petition related to a case wherein the special leave petition filed against the imposition of capital punishment was dismissed in limine by a bench of the Supreme Court in 2006. The bench had dismissed the case without hearing it. Under the norm, the court need not give any justification for not hearing a case as it is assumed that it has made up its mind before the start of hearings. The three-judge bench deciding to reopen and review the earlier decision of the Court in such a case was perhaps unprecedented. Earlier in 2014, a Supreme Court bench of then Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam and Justices RM Lodha, HL Dattu and Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya, had commuted the death penalty of 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devender Pal Singh Bhullar to life imprisonment.

Justice Kurian Joseph

The bench said that because of the “unexplained/inordinate delay” of eight years in disposing of his mercy petition and on the ground of Bhullar’s “insanity”, it was allowing the curative peti­tion to commute his death sentence to life in prison. Bhullar was suffering from severe depression with psychotic features, as per medical reports. Significantly, Justice Sathasivam had also presided over the bench in the Shatrughan Chauhan case in January 2014, and the commutation of the death penalty for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins earlier that year. In the former case, while commuting the death sentence imposed on the petitioners to imprisonment for life, the Supreme Court had validated the established principle that “unexplained/ unreasonable/inordinate delay in disposal of mercy petition is one of the supervening circumstances for commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment”. The Supreme Court had further observed that “insanity/mental illness/schizophrenia is also one of the supervening circumstances for commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment”. Citing that judgment in the Bhullar case, the Supreme Court had said: “We deem it fit to commute the death sentence imposed on Devender Pal Singh Bhullar to life imprisonment both on the ground of unexplained/inordinate delay of 8 years in disposal of mercy petition and on the ground of insanity of the accused.”

Source: http://www.indialegallive.com/constitutional-law-news/supreme-court-news/death-row-inmates-scaling-down-sentences-58464 (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Man gets double death penalty for killing, raping stepdaughter (Madhya Pradesh)

Dec 18, 2018, 08:02 AM IST 

A court Monday awarded double death sentence under different sections of the IPC to a man for raping and killing a five-year-old girl, who was the daughter of his wife from an earlier marriage.

The incident took place in April this year and the sessions court in Jaora town in the district pronounced the verdict. According to the prosecution, the 42-year-old man was sentenced by Additional Session Judge O P Bohra under sections 376 (A-B) and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for raping and murdering the girl. Last year, the Madhya Pradesh assembly passed a bill stipulating the death penalty as maximum punishment to those convicted for raping/gang-raping minors up to the age of 12 years.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the convict and awarded him five-year rigorous imprisonment under other sections of the IPC, deputy director (prosecution) S K Jain said. The man had raped the victim at their home after locking her mother in a room. He later beat up the victim resulting in her death, he said. The court convicted the man on the basis of the statement given by the victim's mother and evidence submitted by the police, he added.

Source: https://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-mp-man-gets-double-death-penalty-for-killing-raping-stepdaughter-2697396 (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Bombay HC upholds death penalty of woman techie's killer (Maharashtra)

20 DECEMBER 2018 Last Updated at 8:24 PM | SOURCE: PTI 

Mumbai, Dec 20 The Bombay High Court Thursday confirmed the death penalty awarded to a 30-year-old man for the rape and murder of a woman techie, saying the maximum punishment was appropriate in the case, considering "increasing incidents of crime against women" in India. Chandrabhan Sanap, was pronounced guilty by a special court in 2015 and awarded the death sentence for the rape and murder of the 23-year-old software professional who was employed with a leading IT firm in Mumbai. A bench of justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre said while the 2012 (Delhi) gang rape case -- where the victim was a paramedical student -- brought in a criminal amendment to make rape laws stricter, incidents such as the Shakti Mills rape case here and countless other cases of sexual assault continued to take place across the nation.

Esther Anuhya (Victim)

"The increasing incidents (of crime against women) have led to the entire womenfolk in the country questioning their safety. They expect the legislature and the judiciary to restore their faith in the system," the bench said. The judges described the convict as a "menace to society" and said rising crime against women should be tackled on all fronts. "Crime against women, which are on the rise, need to be tackled on all fronts in a manner which should respond to the society's cry for justice against such criminals. "The victim was done to death by the accused for no fault of her own, except for a reason that she is a woman and she fell prey to the sinister design of the accused to fulfil his lust. The said attitude of the accused, according to us, deserves a death sentence," the bench said.

The verdict came following an appeal filed by Sanap, who had challenged an October 2015 order of the trial court convicting and sentencing him to death on charges of rape, kidnap and murder. The Maharashtra government had filed a plea seeking that Sanap's death sentence be ratified by the high court. As per the prosecution, on January 5, 2014, the victim reached the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus railway station in suburban Mumbai from her native place in Andhra Pradesh after visiting her parents during a small break from work. Around 5 am, she met Sanap outside the station and he offered to drop her to YWCA hostel in suburban Andheri, where she stayed, on his motorbike in return for Rs 300. She agreed to his offer. However, on the way Sanap took her to a secluded spot near Kanjurmarg, raped and killed her, said the prosecution.

Chandrabahan Sanap

He partially burnt her dead body and dumped it in the bushes off the Eastern Express Highway, where it was found by the victim's family on January 14 that year. While Sanap denied all charges against him, the trial court convicted him, holding the case falls in the "rarest of rare" category and thus, warranted the death sentence. On Thursday, the high court agreed with the trial court order and held that the case was the rarest of rare one and that the "enormity" of Sanap's crime had "shocked the conscience of the society". "The offence of murder was committed for a petty achievement of satisfying the lust of the accused (Sanap). He was barbaric, and showed no regard to the life of a happless young girl," the bench said. The judges also dimissed the defence's plea for leniency on the ground of Sanap's good conduct as an under trial. They said Sanap was "a menace to the society" and that he showed no possibility of reformation. The bench also lamented that women in the country were having to face rampant attacks on their safety and wellbeing. "In the modern scenario, women don't expect to be worshipped. However, they surely expect to be able to breathe safe, and feel safe in and outside of their houses," the bench said in its 167-page verdict.

Source: https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/bombay-hc-upholds-death-penalty-of-woman-techies-killer/1444011 (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Man awarded death penalty for ‘waging war against country’ (West Bengal)

By PTI |Bongaon (wb) |Published: December 15, 2018 5:31:40 pm

In April 2007, BSF had apprehended four persons, including Samir, on suspicion of being members of a terror outfit and handed them over to the local police.

A district court on Saturday sentenced Sheikh Abdullah Nayeem alias Sk Samir, who had links with terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, to death for “waging war against the country”. Additional district sessions judge of Bongaon fast-track court, Binoy Kumar Pathak, passed the death sentence after finding Samir guilty of the charges against him. In April 2007, BSF had apprehended four persons, including Samir, on suspicion of being members of a terror outfit and handed them over to the local police. The West Bengal CID, which took over the probe, had charged them with waging war against the country and procuring arms and explosives, apart from other charges.

The three others — Mohd Younis, Sk Abdullah and Muzaffar Ahmed Rathore — had been sentenced to death in 2017 by the same court. Samir had escaped police custody in 2014 during transit when being taken to Mumbai in connection with the trial in a different case in Maharashtra. He was again arrested in 2017 by NIA from Delhi and was handed over to the West Bengal CID. The court, which declared Samir guilty on Tuesday, was scheduled to announce quantum of sentence on Saturday. Apart from the death sentence, the court also imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on Samir.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/man-awarded-death-penalty-for-waging-war-against-country-5495297/ (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Death-row convicts should be entitled to meet family, lawyers: SC

By PTI |New Delhi |Updated: December 13, 2018 9:56:48 pm 

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said this while dealing with an application which had said that prisoners sentenced to death by any court have a right to be treated at par with other convicted prisoners and should be provided all similar facilities as are provided to others in jail.

Justice Madan B Lokur

The Supreme Court Thursday said death-row convicts should be entitled to meet family members, lawyers and mental health professionals so that their rights are adequately protected at all stages. A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said this while dealing with an application which had said that prisoners sentenced to death by any court have a right to be treated at par with other convicted prisoners and should be provided all similar facilities as are provided to others in jail. The application had also sought a direction that solitary confinement of death row convicts or their separate and cellular confinement be struck down as unconstitutional. The bench requested the Justice (retd) Amitava Roy committee, constituted by the apex court to look into aspects of jail reforms across India, to look into the issues raised in the application in “greater depth”. 

The bench, which also comprised Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, observed that the issue as to when a convict should be considered as a “death row prisoner” must be dealt with in a “humanitarian and compassionate manner”. Referring to an earlier verdict of the apex court, the bench said the law laid down in this regard was quite clear that a prisoner under sentence of death can only mean a prisoner whose capital punishment has become final, conclusive and indefeasible and which cannot be annulled and voided by any judicial or constitutional procedure.

“In other words, a prisoner can be said to be a prisoner on death row when his sentence is beyond judicial scrutiny and would be operative without any intervention from any other authority. Till then, such a prisoner cannot be said to be under a sentence of death in the context of Section 30 of the Prisons Act, 1894,” the bench noted in its order.

“In our opinion, the decisions of this court have quite clearly defined when a prisoner could be said to be on death row and have also taken care of the rights of prisoners on death row as well as those who are a security risk. No further elucidation is necessary,” the court said.

The bench said rights of prisoners, as enunciated by the apex court, should be available in all the states and union territory administrations and they must modify the prison manuals, regulations and rules accordingly. “With regard to the entitlement of a prisoner on death row to have meetings and interviews with his lawyers or members of his immediate family or even mental health professionals, we are of opinion that such meetings and interviews should be permitted,” the bench said. It referred to earlier verdicts delivered by the top court and noted that a death-row convict was entitled to move within the confines of prison like any other convict undergoing rigorous imprisonment.

“However, certain restrictions may be necessary for security reasons, but even then, it would be necessary to comply with natural justice provisions with an entitlement to file an appeal,” the bench noted in its order. On September 25, the apex court had constituted a three-member committee, headed by Justice (retd) Roy, to look into the aspect of jail reforms across India and make recommendations on aspects, including overcrowding in prisons. The court had said the committee would also comprise Inspector General of Police of Bureau of Police Research and Development and Director General (Prisons) of Delhi’s Tihar Jail. The court had passed the order while hearing a matter relating to inhuman conditions in 1,382 prisons across India.

It had earlier taken strong exception to overcrowd of jails across the country and said prisoners also have human rights and cannot be kept like “animals”. The court had earlier passed a slew of directions over unnatural deaths in jails and on prison reforms across India.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/death-row-convicts-should-be-entitled-to-meet-family-lawyers-sc-5492629/ (Accessed 25 December 2018)

POSCO court gives death for raping seven-year-old (Madhya Pradesh)

Tuesday, 11 December 2018 | Staff Reporter | Bhopal

With one more death sentence in 7-year-old girl child rape and murder case of Katni district, the total number of death sentences is 18 in the current year which is highest in any state in India and a record in history of MP Prosecution.

On Monday, Special Judge POSCO court Katni has given capital punishment to accused Kallu for abducting and murdering his neighbour‘s 7-year-old daughter. Incident occurred on June 5, 2018 in Katni district. The girl was playing outside her home when the accused had kidnapped the girl and raped her and murdered her with a knife. He disposed the body in plastic bag in dry well. FSL evidence proved presence of sperm in vaginal slide and DNA report matched blood stain of victim on clothes of accused.

Other circumstantial evidence also confirmed the case and chain of evidence was proved.This case is an example of excellent cooperation of Police investigation and MP Prosecution. Total number of capital punishment are 18 during 2018 out of which 15 cases are rape with girl child, one rape case with boy child and two in normal murder case. This is the highest number of capital punishment secured in a year in MP in entire history. No other State in India has secured 18 capital punishments in a year. In August, 2018 MP Prosecution secured capital punishment in 6 cases, July month 3 cases, one case in June and two cases in May.

Six capital punishments in one month in child rape cases is also a record in country. High court has already confirmed capital sentences in three cases and in three cases commuted sentence to life imprisonment. High court has not acquitted any case which is also a major success.

Source: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2018/state-editions/posco-court-gives-death-for-raping-seven-year-old.html (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Those on Death Row are Most Vulnerable and Marginalized (India)

Saurav Datta, 11 Dec 2018

The India Exclusion Report 2017-18 found that fair trial rights and guarantees are reduced to a nullity and seeks to breach the citadel of the collective silence.

Convicts on death row in India belong to groups marginalised along the axes of caste, religion, economic vulnerability and educational deprivation, and their fair trial rights, though a part of the Right to Life guaranteed by the Constitution, are invariably non-existent, a survey of 371 out of the 385 persons living under the death sentence and their families has revealed. The right to fair trial – one of the most basic and statutory of constitutional guarantees, and the right against custodial torture and self-incrimination are routinely violated in death penalty cases, and the exclusion from the public good of fair trial rights takes place across different stages of the legal process in capital cases, and a complex set of institutional factors contribute to such exclusion. These are the findings of the India Exclusion Report 2017-18 which was recently released by the Centre for Equity Studies, a research and advocacy organisation based in Delhi.

Rampant Torture

Over 80 per cent of the convicts admitted to having suffered custodial torture. Out of 22 who were convicted and sentenced to death for terror offences, 16 revealed they had been tortured under custody. Out of the 92 who said they had confessed in police custody (and these confessions were used to convict them despite the statutory prohibition under the Evidence Act), 72, i.e., 78.3 per cent admitted to making confessions due to torture. The torture methods mirrored the torture in the notorious Guantanamo Bay - forcible anal penetration, waterboarding, sleep deprivation, tying one to a table while a venomous snake was left inside the room, electric shocks to private parts, severe beating, and the like.

False Pretexts, Abysmal Legal Representation

Many prisoners alleged malicious prosecution and false implication, Akira Begum (location not disclosed to protect privacy) said, "I left my sleeping son at home because the police called me to sign certain documents. I never got to go home after that.” Vatsal Singh narrated how he was called for questioning on an alleged bank robbery charge, and subsequently charged with murdering six members of a family. Atmaram, a death row convict from Maharashtra, narrated his woeful plight. After he was arrested on a murder charge, his pregnant wife and his children were picked up (without any legally valid reason) and locked up in a police station for four days and weren't allowed to communicate with anyone. The experience turned out to be so traumatic that his wife underwent an abortion immediately after being released.

In other cases, prison officials and personnel demand sexual favours from the wives of those condemned to death, in order to grant them their right to a weekly mulaqat (visit). Of the 191 prisoners who shared information regarding access to a lawyer at the time of interrogation, 185 (97 per cent) said they were not allowed to consult a lawyer. Of these 185, 82.6 per cent who spoke about their experience in custody said they had been subjected to torture. As for the quality of legal representation, 132 (36.6 per cent) were represented by legal aid lawyers at the trial court, while 227 (70.6 per cent) had access to a private lawyer. At the Supreme Court stage, this dropped to 71.4 per cent and 29.9 per cent respectively, thus showing how tough it is to access quality legal representation. In the study, even though there were some positive opinions on lawyers, they were far outnumbered by narratives of the lawyers’ lack of interaction with prisoners and their families, repeated demands for exorbitant sums of money and dereliction of duties by defence lawyers.

Exclusion of Marginalised Groups

Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of people on death row - 79 followed by Bihar (53), Karnataka (45), and Delhi (30). 279 prisoners (76 per cent) sentenced to death hail from backward classes and religious minorities. While the proportion of Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes amongst all sentenced to death was 24.5 per cent, it was significantly higher in Maharashtra (50 per cent), Karnataka (36.4 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (36 per cent), Bihar (31.4 per cent) and Jharkhand (30.8 per cent) amongst states with 10 or more prisoners on death row. Religious minorities comprised a disproportionate share of prisoners sentenced to death in Gujarat (79 per cent), Kerala (60 per cent) and Karnataka (31.8 per cent). On disaggregating the data on economic vulnerability for each social profile category, it was observed that 85.4 per cent of prisoners who were SC/STs were also economically vulnerable. This was in contrast to 64.4 per cent for those belonging to the general category.

Ending the Collective Silence

The report, as it explicitly clarified, doesn't intend to demand the abolition of capital punishment, but with the aid of data- 373 death row prisoners in 62 prisons of 29 Indian states, tried to address the excruciating agony of the sheer uncertainty which "condemned convicts" are forced to face day in day out. Accompanied with this is the fact that 41 non-homicide offences in all the central legislations carry the death penalty as the maximum punishment, while there are only 13 homicide-related offences that do so.  This is in stark contrast to the United States, where its apex court ruled that "awarding" death penalty in non-homicide cases (such as rape) is illegal and unconstitutional. But India's lawmakers, especially after the December 2012 Delhi gangrape case, have demonstrated a predilection of baying for the blood of those who they feel shake "the collective conscience of society".

The researchers recount how difficult it was to gather data and how they had to go take the RTI (Right to Information) Act route, approaching the National Legal Services Authority, and the prison authorities to even get to know the total number of people on death row. Maharashtra straightaway refused interview access to death row convicts with the argument that all were terror-offence convicts and voicing their opinions could jeopardise national security. This gut-wrenching report, which seeks to narrate and portray the plight of death row convicts "in the hope that this will end our collective silence" should nudge the establishment and the judiciary. But hopes remain dim.

Source: https://www.newsclick.in/those-death-row-are-most-vulnerable-and-marginalised  (Accessed 25 December 2018)

High Court abolishes solitary confinement for murder convicts in Haryana jails (Haryana)

Written by Sofi Ahsan |Chandigarh |Updated: December 8, 2018 8:53:15 am 

Removing the provision will require the Punjab government to make amendments to the Jail Manual or for the court, acting on a legal challenge, to quash the provision.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Friday abolished the practice of keeping death row inmates in solitary confinement in Haryana jails, ruling that it is without authority of law and amounts to additional punishment. The order for abolishing the practice came as part of a judgment commuting the death sentence of three persons convicted last year by a Mahendergarh court for rape and murder of a nine-year-old in 2014 to a mandatory 20-year imprisonment without remissions. The court order for “abolishing” is specific to the “practice” adopted by jail authorities in Haryana, but the division bench of Justices Rajiv Sharma and Gurvinder Singh Gill has not passed any order to remove the provision which forms part of the Punjab Jail Manual which has been adopted by Haryana.

 Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill

Removing the provision will require the Punjab government to make amendments to the Jail Manual or for the court, acting on a legal challenge, to quash the provision. The bench called the provision “anarchic, cruel and insensitive,” reflective of “a colonial mindset” and violative of Articles 20 (2) and Article 21. In a 111-page judgment, the court said the practice amounts to torture and is violative of the person’s basic human rights. “The convict shall not be segregated/isolated till the sentence of death has become final, conclusive and indefeasible which cannot be annulled or voided by any judicial process. The period to keep a convict sentenced to death in segregation/isolation should be for the shortest possible time i.e. 2-3 days.”

 Justice Rajiv Sharma

The judges in the verdict have take note of the research done by American Civil Liberties Union on the medical consequences which people in solitary confinement face, an article published in the Harvard Law Review, a 2005 US Supreme Court judgment, a 1978 Indian Supreme Court judgment and a book on solitary confinement written by Sharon Shalev. The Punjab Jail Manual, according to the judgment, specifies that at present “every prisoner condemned to death is to be confined in a cell apart from all other prisoners and is to be placed by day and by night under the charge of a special guard. No person can communicate with him without the authority of the Superintendent. The prisoner condemned to death is only permitted to occupy the court yard of his cell for half an hour each morning and evening.”

The verdict was passed in the appeals filed by three convicts against the death sentence awarded to them and the murder reference sent by the trial court for confirmation by the High Court. The convicts, according to their advocates, were immediately sent to solitary confinement after being sentenced to death, In November 2014, the nine-year-old victim had been kidnapped by the accused Arun, Rajesh and Deepak when she had gone out with a mouse trap in her hand to drop the mouse outside. She was raped and throttled by the convicts, according to police. “We are of the view that this case does not fall in the ambit of the “rarest of rare case” for awarding death sentence to the appellants. Though according to the final opinion, death is violent but it cannot be termed that it has pricked collective conscious of the society. The young girl was killed by throttling but it cannot be termed gruesome murder,” the bench said, while providing reasoning for commuting the death sentence.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/high-court-abolishes-solitary-confinement-for-murder-convicts-in-haryana-jails-5484083/ (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Man Gets Death Penalty For Murder Of Sister In Honour Killing (Haryana)

All India | Press Trust of India | Updated: December 05, 2018 23:17 IST

On February 9, 2017, Kiran was murdered under suspicious circumstances in Juglan village. She was later cremated in the village by her family members.

HISAR: A local court awarded the death penalty to a 26-year-old man Wednesday for murdering his sister.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Pankaj awarded the sentence to Ashok, 26, a resident of Juglan village in Hisar district. Ashok was held guilty of murdering his sister Kiran on February 9, 2017. According to prosecution, Rohtas of Siswal village had a love marriage with Kiran on August 8, 2015. The woman's family had opposed their marriage as Rohtas belonged to a different community.

On February 9, 2017, Kiran was murdered under suspicious circumstances in Juglan village. She was later cremated in the village by her family members. A police complaint was subsequently lodged after the man, who had helped register their marriage, raised suspicion alleging that Kiran's death could be a case of honour killing. The police later arrested Ashok, the brother of the victim. A case was registered against Ashok under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/haryana-man-gets-death-penalty-for-murder-of-sister-in-honour-killing-1958414 (Accessed 25 December 2018)

With 17 death sentences, MP records highest in year (Madhya Pradesh)

Saturday, 01 December 2018 | Staff Reporter | Bhopal

With one more death sentence in murder case of MP, total number of death sentences are 17 in year 2018 which is highest in any State in India and a record in history of MP Prosecution.

On Friday, DJ court Mandsaur has given capital punishment to accused KL Meena for murdering his wife and two minor daughters. Incident occurred on June 16, 2018 in Mandsaur district. Total number of capital punishment are 17 during 2018 out of which 14 cases are of rape with girl child, one rape case with boy child and two in normal murder cases. This is the highest number of capital punishment secured in a year in MP in entire history. No other state in India has secured so many capital punishment.

In August 2018, Prosecution secured capital punishment in 6 cases, July month 3 cases, June 1 case and in May 2 cases . Six Capital punishment in one month in child rape cases is also a record in country. PM of India Narendra Modi has quoted and appreciated success story of MP Prosecution on three occasion. First in his speech from Red Fort on August 15 and second in Radio programme Man Ki Baat and third in Forensic science university convocation programme at Gandhinagar. The High court has already confirmed capital sentences in three cases and in three cases commuted sentence to life imprisonment. High court has not acquitted any case which is a big success. 

These capital sentences are excellent example of teamwork, commitment and focused approach of MP Prosecution. Credit of extra ordinary success goes to team MP Prosecution.

Source: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2018/state-editions/with-17-death-sentences--mp-records-highest-in-year.html (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Death sentence given to double murder convict (Uttarakhand )

Friday, 30 November 2018 | PNS | Haridwar

Court of Additional district judge (ADJ) Varun Kumar has served death sentence to the convict of the double murder which happened at Ranipur on September 24, 2016. Notably, the convict Sartaj, resident of Govindpur, Dadupur, under the police jurisdiction of Ranipur, had hacked his brother Shehzad and his wife Rukhsana to death after they quarrelled over Rs 50,000. The convict has also been booked for making a murder attempt on his niece. Speaking to The Pioneer, the Government pleader Anil Kumar Rana said that the court has announced the death sentence to Sartaj on Thursday after taking statements of 16 witnesses.

Source: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2018/state-editions/death-sentence-given-to-double-murder-convict.html (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Supreme Court commutes death penalty of Chhattisgarh man

By Express News Service |New Delhi |Published: November 29, 2018 5:27:43 am

The Sessions Judge, Durg, had sentenced Verma to death in June 2013, holding it as a rarest of rare case. The Chhattisgarh High Court confirmed the sentence on April 11, 2014.

THE SUPREME Court on Wednesday commuted the death penalty imposed on a Chhattisgarh man convicted of killing three people and attempting to kill a fourth, saying the question whether the accused was capable of reformation was not considered at the time of trial. “No evidence as to the uncommon nature of the offence or the improbability of reformation or rehabilitation of the appellant has been adduced… Whether the person is capable of reformation and rehabilitation should also be taken into consideration while imposing death penalty,” a bench of Justices Kurian Joseph, Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta ruled while commuting appellant Chhannu Lal Verma’s sentence to life imprisonment.

The Sessions Judge, Durg, had sentenced Verma to death in June 2013, holding it as a rarest of rare case. The Chhattisgarh High Court confirmed the sentence on April 11, 2014. The incident dates back to October 19, 2011 when Verma entered the house of Anandram Sahu and caused fatal injuries to him, Sahu’s wife Firanteen Bai and daughter-in-law Ratna Sahu. He then entered another house and attacked a woman. The apex court relied on a certificate it received from the jail superintendent, which said that Verma’s conduct in jail had been good. “Thus, there is a clear indication that despite having lost all hope, no frustration has set on the appellant. On the contrary, there was a conscious effort on his part to lead a good life for the remaining period. A convict is sent to jail with the hope and expectation that he would make amends and get reformed. That there is such a positive change on a death row convict, in our view, should also weigh with the Court while taking a decision as to whether the alternative option is unquestionably foreclosed,” the bench said.

Writing for the bench, Justice Joseph referred to the 1980 judgment of a Constitution bench in the Bachan Singh Vs State of Punjab case in which the court had by a 4-1 majority laid down that the death penalty could only be imposed in rarest of rare cases. Justice Joseph wrote, “As held by the Constitution Bench in Bachan Singh.it was the duty of the State to prove by evidence that the convict cannot be reformed or rehabilitated. That information not having been furnished by the State at the relevant time, the information now furnished by the State becomes all the more relevant. The standard set by the ‘rarest of rare’ test in Bachan Singh is a high standard. The conduct of the convict in prison cannot be lost sight of. The fact that the prisoner has displayed good behaviour in prison certainly goes on to show that he is not beyond reform.”

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/supreme-court-commutes-death-penalty-of-chhattisgarh-man-5469909/ (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Supreme Court upholds constitutional validity of death penalty

PTI New DelhiNovember 28, 2018UPDATED: November 28, 2018 21:09 IST

According to Justice Joseph, the irrevocable nature of the sentence and the fact that the death row convicts are, for that period, hanging between life and death are to be duly considered.

Has death penalty in the statute served as a deterrent for heinous crime?

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court in a verdict on Wednesday expressed different opinions on this with one saying that the provision of capital punishment has failed to become a deterrent and the other two holding that a larger bench had already decided its continuance in the rarest of rare cases. A three-judge bench comprising justices Kurian Joseph, Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta commuted the death sentence of a man and awarded him life term for murdering three persons including two women. Though the three judges differed on the applicability of death penalty, they were unanimous in commuting the death sentence of Chhannu Lal Verma. Justice Joseph, who is to superannuate on Thursday, while pronouncing the verdict, read his views on the applicability of death sentence.

Justice Kurian Joseph

Referring to the 262nd report of the Law Commission, Justice Joseph said, "The constitutional regulation of capital punishment attempted in Bachan Singh versus State of Punjab in 1980 has failed to prevent death sentences from being 'arbitrarily and freakishly imposed' and that capital punishment has failed to achieve any constitutionally valid penological goals, we are of the view that a time has come where we view the need for death penalty as a punishment, especially its purpose and practice." He also said that till the time death penalty exists in the statute books, the burden to be satisfied by the judge in awarding this punishment must be high. According to Justice Joseph, the irrevocable nature of the sentence and the fact that the death row convicts are, for that period, hanging between life and death are to be duly considered.

"Every death penalty case before the court deals with a human life that enjoys certain constitutional protection and if life is to be taken away, then the process must adhere to the strictest and highest constitutional standards. Our conscience as judges, which is guided by constitutional principles, cannot allow anything less than that," Justice Joseph, who wrote judgement for the bench, said. Justices Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta gave divergent opinion on the views expressed by Justice Joseph on applicability of death sentence and said a five-judge constitution bench in Bachan Singh versus State of Punjab in 1980 had already held the constitutional validity of death penalty provided in Indian Penal Code. "In our view, since the Constitution Bench in Bachan Singh vs. State of Punjab, has upheld capital punishment, there is no need to re-­examine the same at this stage," justices Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta said. Justice Joseph, who wrote the verdict for the bench, also voiced his "anguishing concern" with regard to public discourse on crimes which have an impact on the trial, conviction and sentence in a case.

"The court's duty to be constitutionally correct even when its view is counter-majoritarian is also a factor which should weigh with the court when it deals with the collective conscience of the people or public opinion. After all, the society's perspective is generally formed by the emotionally charged narratives. Such narratives need not necessarily be legally correct, properly informed or procedurally proper," he said. Justice Joseph, while referring to the law commission report said that the court plays a counter-majoritarian role in protecting individual rights against majoritarian impulses. "In this context, we may also express our concern on the legality and propriety of the people engaging in a 'trial' prior to the process of trial by the court," he said. Justice Joseph said that it has almost become a "trend" for the investigating agency to present their version and create a cloud in the collective conscience of the society regarding the crime and the criminal. "This undoubtedly puts mounting pressure on the courts at all the stages of the trial and certainly they have a tendency to interfere with the due course of justice," he said.

The three judges were unanimous on their view that the Chhattisgarh High Court in the case at hand has erroneously confirmed death penalty on the man without correctly applying the law laid down in Bachan Singh and other cases. "The decision to impose the highest punishment of death sentence in this case does not fulfil the test of rarest of rare case where the alternative option is unquestionably foreclosed," the bench said. It said that no evidence as to the uncommon nature of the offence or the improbability of reformation or rehabilitation of the appellant has been adduced. It noted that the superintendent of the jail has given a certificate that his conduct in jail has been good during the pendency of his appeal in apex court for past four years. "Thus, there is a clear indication that despite having lost all hope, yet no frustration has set on the appellant. On the contrary, there was a conscious effort on his part to lead a good life for the remaining period. A convict is sent to jail with the hope and expectation that he would make amends and get reformed," it said.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/supreme-court-upholds-constitutional-validity-of-death-penalty-1398308-2018-11-28 (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Six years after confirming death penalty, SC recalls order (Maharashtra)

Posted at: Nov 21, 2018, 8:41 PM 

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi: Six years after dismissing a review petition against confirmation of death penalty awarded to a man from Maharashtra for killing three children and a women he lived with as her husband, the Supreme Court has recalled its order and ordered a fresh hearing on his plea.

The order came from a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Kurian Joseph on November 12 while considering convict Sudam Rahul Kaniram Jadhav’s plea for shifting him from Nagpur Central Jail to a prison facility in Aurangabad. “…we are of the view that the review petitions regarding the sentence needs to be considered afresh,” the Bench said recalling its July 26, 2012 order. Since the petitioner had claimed that he was medically unfit for execution, the Bench ordered setting up of a medical board to examine him. While posting the review petition for hearing afresh in the second week of January next year, the Bench ordered Maharastra Government authorities in four weeks. Sudam was held guilty of committing the murder of three children and a woman by the trial court which sentenced him to death. The Bombay High Court dismissed his appeal. The Supreme Court confirmed the capital punishment in July 2011, describing him as “a menace to the society who cannot be reformed”.

The top court had said, “Lesser punishment in our opinion shall be fraught with danger as it may expose the society to peril once again at the hands of the appellant.” In a landmark judgment, a Constitution Bench in 2014 ruled that hearing of cases in which death sentence has been awarded should be by a Bench of three judges and the hearing of review petitions in such cases should be in open court and not in chamber “by circulation” as is the practice. The Constitution Bench had made it clear that the law laid down by it shall be applicable only in pending review petitions and such petitions filed in future. It had said the ruling would also apply to cases where a review petition was already dismissed but the death sentence was yet to be executed. In such cases, the petitioners had been given liberty apply for the reopening of their review petitions within one month from the date of this judgment.

Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/six-years-after-confirming-death-penalty-sc-recalls-order/686797.html (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Muzaffarnagar: 7 awarded death sentence for killing one nine years ago (Uttar Pradesh)

By PTI |Muzaffarnagar |Published: November 20, 2018 5:36:09 pm 

According to the prosecution, in the fight that took place between two groups of people of the same community, one Naseem was killed and several others were injured in February 2010.

A sessions court in Muzaffarnagar Tuesday sentenced seven persons to death for killing a man nearly nine years ago at Harsoli in the district after a clash between two groups of people over an old dispute. District and Sessions Judge Rajesh Bhardwaj sentenced the seven after convicting them on charges of murder, attempt to murder and rioting, armed with deadly weapons. According to the prosecution, in the fight that took place between two groups of people of the same community, one Naseem was killed and several others were injured in February 2010 after which the police had registered a case under various penal offences. 

The seven accused, who were given death sentence, are Sadiq, Shahid, Arshad, Rashid, Sarfaraz, Farukh and Mumtaz. They all have been in jail since their arrests soon after the clash. A death sentence given by a trial court has to be confirmed by the high court of the state.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/muzaffarnagar-7-awarded-death-sentence-for-killing-one-nine-years-ago-5455840/ (Accessed 25 December 2018)

Court hands death sentence over deadly 1984 anti-Sikh riots (Delhi)

20 Nov 2018

A court in India has sentenced to death a man convicted of murder during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that left nearly 3,000 people dead, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The 1984 carnage erupted just hours after Prime Minister Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards. The violence, which occurred mostly in the capital New Delhi, lasted three days when Sikhs were raped, murdered and burned alive, while their homes and businesses were torched. Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey on Tuesday handed the death sentence to Yashpal Singh and a life sentence to Naresh Sherawat, both for murder, rioting and other charges.

A Sikh man being surrounded and beaten during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984

The pair were convicted last week of killing Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh, two men in their 20s, during the riots. The verdict was pronounced in the high-security Tihar Jail due to security concerns after the convicts were attacked on a New Delhi court's premises last week. Singh and Sherawat "took out the victims, who were hiding inside a room, injured them with dangerous weapons with the intention to kill and threw them down from the first floor", causing their deaths, the judge said while delivering the punishment, according to The Hindu newspaper. Relatives of victims rejoiced after the judge announced the ruling, the first since 1996, which follows the setting up of a special probe in 2015. They said they were relieved that "justice has been finally served" and hoped that next up would be two former Congress ministers, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar. 

1984 Delhi Anti-Sikh Riots: Yashpal Singh Awarded Death Penalty, Naresh Seharawat Life Imprisonment

Government-appointed commissions in the past failed to prosecute more than a handful in minor cases. India's top investigating agency blamed Kumar for inciting the mobs, but he was acquitted by a court in 2013. Amarinder Singh, Punjab's chief minister, welcomed the ruling in a Twitter post, saying that he hoped "others involved in the attacks are also soon brought to book for their horrendous and inhuman acts".  Welcome the first conviction by a Delhi court in the 1984 riots case. Justice has finally been meted out to the perpetrators of the heinous crimes. Hope the others involved in the attacks are also soon brought to book for their horrendous and inhuman acts.— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) November 20, 2018 Harsimrat Kaur Badal, a politician from Punjab, said the verdict gave Sikhs "a ray of hope".  "We will not rest till the last murderer is brought to justice," she added in a post on Twitter. At 20 million, Sikhs make up a little under two percent of India's population of 1.25 billion.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/india-court-hands-death-sentence-deadly-1984-anti-sikh-riots-181120140514754.html (Accessed 25 December 2018)

50-year-old gets death sentence for rape & murder (West Bengal)

By Suman Mondol

TNN | Nov 17, 2018, 06.32 AM IST

TAMLUK (West Bengal): A 50-year-old Haldia resident, Srimanta Tunga (50), was on Friday sentenced to death by Tamluk court a day after his conviction in the 2016 rape and murder of his 14-year-old domestic help. 

He was accused of repeatedly raping the minor girl before strangling her to death on August 8, 2016. After her death, Srimanta allegedly dragged the girl's body to the bathroom of his house, poured kerosene on it and set it ablaze. A casual worker of Haldia Dock Complex, Srimanta called the girl's family that day and told them that she was ill. Her mother and other relatives reached Srimanta's house and found her burnt body. Haldia police arrested Srimanta and charged him under sections 302, 376, 201 of IPC and section 6 of Pocso Act. Srimanta never got bail since his arrest as the chargesheet was filed within 90 days. 

Thereafter, the charges were framed and the trial was completed in about two years. Public prosecutor (PP) Abdul Mohit said, "The case was disposed off very quickly. Besides convicting and sentencing the accused to death, the Tamluk court has directed the state to pay Rs 5 lakh to the victim's family as compensation."

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/50-year-old-gets-death-sentence-for-rape-murder/articleshow/66662567.cms (Accessed 25 December 2018)

3 AIADMK men convicted in Dharmapuri bus burning case released (Tamil Nadu)

Written by Arun Janardhanan |Chennai |Published: November 20, 2018 3:31:16 am 

The bus was attacked during a protest by AIADMK men against the conviction of former CM Jayalalalithaa in Kodaikanal Pleasant Stay Hotel case. 

(Left to right) Muniappan, Nedunchezhian, Madhu alias Ravindran

Three convicts serving a life term in the Dharmapuri bus burning case, in which three students were burnt alive following an attack on a college bus by AIADMK workers in February 2000, were released from Vellore prison Monday. Three students — Kokilavani, Hemalatha and Gayathri of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore — were killed when a mob set their college bus, carrying 44 students and two lecturers for a study tour, on fire at Ilakkiampatti near Dharmapuri.

The bus was attacked during a protest by AIADMK men against the conviction of former CM Jayalalalithaa in Kodaikanal Pleasant Stay Hotel case. Vellore prison officials said they received an order from higher-ups before Monday afternoon for the release of Neduchezhian, Ravindran alias Madhu and Muniappan. Within an hour, around 12.30 pm, the trio was seen stepping out of the prison after serving a term for nearly two decades.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/3-aiadmk-men-convicted-in-dharmapuri-bus-burning-case-released-5454577/ (Accessed 25 December 2018)

India votes against UNGA draft resolution on use of death penalty

Published: 14th November 2018 11:57 AM 

The draft resolution, taken up in the Third Committee of the General Assembly Tuesday, was approved with a recorded vote of 123 in favour, 36 against and 30 abstentions.

By PTI

UNITED NATIONS: India has voted against a UN General Assembly draft resolution on the use of death penalty, saying it goes against the statutory law of the country where an execution is carried out in the "rarest of rare" cases.

United Nations General Assembly

The draft resolution, taken up in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) of the General Assembly Tuesday, was approved with a recorded vote of 123 in favour, 36 against and 30 abstentions. India was among the countries that voted against the resolution, which would have the Assembly call on all States to respect international standards on the rights of those facing death penalty and ensure that it is not applied on the basis of discriminatory laws or as a result of discriminatory or arbitrary application of the law.

First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Paulomi Tripathi, giving the country's explanation of vote, said the resolution sought to promote a moratorium on executions with the aim of abolishing death penalty. "My delegation has voted against the resolution as a whole, as it goes against statutory law in India," she said. "In India, the death penalty is exercised in 'rarest of rare' cases, where the crime committed is so heinous that it shocks the conscience of the society. Indian law provides for all requisite procedural safeguards, including the right to a fair trial by an independent Court, presumption of innocence, the minimum guarantees for defence, and the right to review by a higher court," she said.

India's Permanent Mission to the UN Paulomi Tripathi (2018)

The draft resolution's passage followed an intense debate and Singapore introduced an amendment on behalf of 34 countries that reaffirmed the countries' sovereign right to develop their own legal system. The Committee then approved this amendment by a recorded vote of 96 in favour to 73 against, with 14 abstentions. India voted in favour of this amendment. By its terms, the Assembly would reaffirm the sovereign right of all countries to develop their own legal systems, including determining appropriate legal penalties, in accordance with their international law obligations.

Tripathi said every State has the sovereign right to determine its own legal system and appropriate legal penalties and it was in this context that India voted in favour of the amendment but has voted against the resolution as a whole. Singapore's delegate decried the draft resolution's "one-size-fits-all" approach to a delicate question, which seeks to impose a particular vision of the world onto others.

The representative of Singapore said the amendment aimed to ensure respect for the diversity of views. The amendment is simple and neutral and it does not take a position on the substance of the draft resolution, nor make judgments about State policies, Singapore said. Tripathi said the Indian laws have specific provisions for commutation of death penalty in the case of pregnant women and has rulings that prohibited executions of persons with mental or intellectual disabilities, while juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to death under any circumstances. Death sentences in India must also be confirmed by a superior court and an accused has the right to appeal to a High Court or the Supreme Court, which has adopted guidelines on clemency and the treatment of death row prisoners, she said.

Tripathi said "poverty, socio-economic, psychic compulsions, undeserved adversities in life" constituted new mitigating factors to be considered by courts in commuting a death sentence to life imprisonment. She also said the President of India in all cases, and the Governors of States under their respective jurisdictions, have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or, to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of death penalty.

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2018/nov/14/india-votes-against-unga-draft-resolution-on-use-of-death-penalty-1898070.html (Accessed 25 December 2018)