Abolish Death Penalty India: ‘Reformation not considered’: Gujarat High Court commutes capital punishment of rape convict to life term

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

‘Reformation not considered’: Gujarat High Court commutes capital punishment of rape convict to life term

New Delhi | Updated:

December 16, 2025 12:26 PM IST

The Gujarat High Court recently commuted the death sentence imposed on a man to life imprisonment who was convicted for raping a minor girl. A bench comprising Justices Ilesh J Vora and R T Vachhani was hearing proceedings over the confirmation and challenge of the convict’s death penalty when it noted that the trial court did not consider the possibility of convict’s reformation while awarding the death sentence.

Justice Ilesh J Vora

“While awarding the sentence of death penalty has not taken into consideration the several factors as deliberated in the foregoing paragraphs with any possibility of reformative measures and therefore in absence of any antecedents, the imposition of death penalty deserves to be interfered with,” the high court said.

Justice R. T. Vachhani

While considering the jail report, the high court noted that the convict’s conduct in the jail is good, and held that the trial court did not undertake any such exercise to verify the aspect leading towards reformative measures. “In view of the jail report, no such antecedents are reported and conduct of the convict in the jail is reported to be good; however learned Special Court has not undertaken any such exercise to verify the aspect leading towards reformative measures,” the court said.

Case

The complainant had said that the accused had called the minor girl to his house on the pretext of giving her tamarind and raped her. Based on the complaint, FIR was registered for the offence under Sections 363, 376(AB) (rape of woman under twelve years of age) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 5(m), 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The sessions court convicted and sentenced the man to capital punishment. The convict challenged the trial court’s judgment before the high court. The state had also sought confirmation of the death penalty. The counsel for the state argued that the sessions court had rightly imposed the death sentence on the convict after considering the evidence.

On the other hand, the counsel for the convict submitted that the present case does not fall within ‘rarest of rare case’ to award death sentence. The court held that if the entire evidence of the survivor is considered, it is clearly proved that the accused had committed rape upon the minor child. It further added that the child witness identified the accused when he was shown on the screen. The court further noted that the complainant had also given evidence supporting the facts of the prosecution’s case. While referring to the medical evidence, the court said that the “accused committed forcible sexual intercourse with the minor victim on the day of the incident”.

The court while upholding the conviction of the convict set aside the death penalty and commuted it life imprisonment which shall mean the imprisonment for reminder of life. “the death penalty / capital punishment imposed upon the convict for the offence punishable under Sections Section 376 (AB) of the IPC and Section 5 (m) read with Section 6 of the Protection of Children of Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (for short the POCSO Act) is commuted to the imprisonment of life which shall mean the imprisonment for reminder of life. Rest of the conviction and sentence as awarded by the learned Sessions Court shall remain unaltered,” the court said.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/legal-news/reformation-not-considered-gujarat-high-court-commutes-capital-punishment-10422762/

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The Death Penalty Scenario in India

India is one of 193 countries that retains the death penalty. Some judges have delivered landmark verdicts upholding the rights of death row prisoners, while debates continue advocating abolition or reform of sentencing policies. The Indian government remains committed to retention, asserting executions occur only in “rarest of rare” cases. The death penalty applies to crimes including murder, kidnapping, terrorism, desertion, inducement to suicide of a minor or mentally-retarded person, and in certain cases of rape. Outrage over child rape and murder has intensified these discussions. After an unofficial eight-year moratorium, the government executed Ajmal Kasab (Mumbai attacks) in 2012 and Afzal Guru (Parliament attack) in 2013, both covertly and immediately after mercy petitions were rejected. Prior to this, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed in 2004 after 13 years on death row. Following these, many mercy petitions have been rejected, creating fear among death row convicts. Courts continue to hand down death sentences at an increasing rate. Empirical studies highlight the plight of death row prisoners. The India Exclusion Report 2017-18 found fair trial rights largely denied, with convicts often marginalized by caste, religion, poverty, and education. The Death Penalty Research Project (2015) documented socio-economic profiles and experiences of death row prisoners. Dr. Reena Mary George’s studies (2014, 2009) emphasized poverty, social exclusion, and dignity as central to death row experiences, and examined the human rights impact of the penalty. According to the National Crime Records Bureau 2015, 101 prisoners were on death row, with many sentences commuted to life. The “rarest of rare” doctrine introduced by the Supreme Court in the 1980s has not substantially limited death sentences, which have increased over the decades. Justice Joseph (2018) reaffirmed the Bachan Singh judgment but urged restriction of the death penalty to only those cases meeting its criteria. While updating the blog and conducting my own empirical studies, I observed the heinous nature of the crimes that were committed and thought about the families, about their loss, about the victims who for no fault of their own died. If I lost my relative or a dear friend, would I still oppose death penalty and would I still advocate to abolish the death sentence? Having worked in the criminal justice system and also having the seen the other side, where often it is the marginalized, vulnerable and oppressed who are on death row makes me want to advocate for abolition of this punishment. Victims should definitely get justice for their loss, for their pain. No one should escape the rule of law. As long as humanity exists; crime will exist. Should we not re-consider our sentencing policies? Reena Mary George