Abolish Death Penalty India: Khushwinder Singh

Showing posts with label Khushwinder Singh. Show all posts

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Death (sentence) upheld for man who pushed 4 into Bhakra (Punjab)

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 25, 2019

HC upholds death sentence in 15-yr-old case

Worshipping with their eyes closed on the banks of Bhakra canal on June 3, 2004, Kulwant Singh, his wife and two minor children were pushed into the water by a relative, Khushwinder Singh of Fatehgarh Sahib, who had taken them there on the pretext of seeking blessings from a “baba”.

Man gets death penalty for murdering four of family

Convict Khushwinder Singh in custody. tribune photo

Fifteen years on, a Punjab and Haryana High Court Division Bench of Justices Rajiv Sharma and Gurvinder Singh Gill today upheld the death sentence for Khushwinder, pronounced by the Mohali CBI special judge.With the CBI probe hitting a dead-end, the case had to be shut in September 2009. But a letter from the Punjab ADGP (Crime) to the CBI in July 2012 led to its reopening.

The ADGP said Khushwinder, an accused in a similar case of killing of a family where a female member survived, had during investigation confessed to his involvement in pushing to death Kulwant and his family.Speaking for the Bench, Justice Sharma said the motive attributed was that Khushwinder wanted to grab Kulwant’s money from a recently sold property. After developing close ties with Kulwant, who was under debt, Khushwinder persuaded the victim family to accompany him to the crime spot and pushed them into the water. While the bodies of Kulwant and his daughter Ramandeep Kaur were recovered, those of his wife Harjit Kaur and son Arvinder Singh could never be found.

Four members of a family killed (left to right) – Kulwant Singh, Harjeet Kaur, Ramandeep Kaur and Arvinder Singh

“It has been proven on record that the appellant had planned the murder of Kulwant and his family. He pushed them into the Bhakra canal. He has played with the sentiments of gullible family… The case falls within the ambit of rarest of rare cases. The appellant has killed four persons, including two minor children. There is no occasion for us to interfere with the well-reasoned judgment and order of the trial court,” asserted Justice Sharma.

Case files

Khushwinder can still move the Supreme Court, file a mercy petition before the President, and challenge the rejection of that as well
In August 2004, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was sent to the gallows for killing and raping a minor in West Bengal
All executions since then have been in terror cases — be it in Parliament attack case (Afzal Guru), Mumbai 26/11 case (Ajmal Kasab) or 1993-Mumbai blasts (Yakub Memon)

Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/death-for-man-who-pushed-4-into-bhakra/763912.html (accessed on 30 May 2019)

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

SC Confirms Death Sentence to Punjab Man for Killing Six, Says No Other Punishment Befitting

A three-judge bench headed by Justice AK Sikri upheld the death sentence awarded to Khushwinder Singh, who, on the pretext of performing a religious ritual, had killed six of his wife's relatives in 2012.

News18.comUpdated:March 5, 2019, 2:38 PM IST

New Delhi: In a first off case since it prioritised hearing of the death penalty case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed capital punishment for a man from Punjab, who killed six people by drowning them in a canal. A three-judge bench headed by Justice AK Sikri upheld the death sentence awarded to Khushwinder Singh, who, on the pretext of performing a religious ritual, had killed six of his wife's relatives in 2012. "Death sentence is confirmed. Appeal is dismissed," said Justice MR Shah, reading out the operative part of the judgement on behalf of the bench.

The Court termed Singh's offence as rarest of the rare and held that there is no other punishment befitting to the gruesome crime. It noted that Singh committed the premeditated murder in cold-blood, taking advantage of the trust of his wife's relatives. The bench also weighed the aggravating and mitigating circumstances in the matter, before reaching to the conclusion that death sentence was the only appropriate punishment in this case. It was also noticed by the top court that Singh was held guilty and sentenced to death by a CBI trial court in Mohali for killing a family of four in 2004 by, once again, pushing the victims into a canal and drowning them. The appeal in the second conviction is presently pending.

After Justice Ranjan Gogoi took over as the Chief Justice of India, death penalty cases were prioritised, and at least three benches in the Supreme Court were being given the task to decide these cases expeditiously. Ever since these cases were taken up, the top court commuted death sentence in more than a dozen cases. Confirming Singh's death sentence is the first case in this batch of cases.

Source: https://www.news18.com/news/india/sc-confirms-death-sentence-to-punjab-man-for-killing-six-says-no-other-punishment-befitting-2056305.html (accessed on 29 May 2019)

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Man gets death penalty for murdering four of family (Punjab)

Tribune News Service, Mohali, August 28, 2018

The CBI court here on Tuesday awarded death penalty to Khushwinder Singh (45), who had murdered four members of a Fatehgarh Sahib family 14 years ago.

Khushwinder Singh

Khushwinder, a resident of Suhavi village in Fatehgarh Sahib district, had pushed Kulwant Singh (45), latter’s wife Harjit Kaur (40), daughter Ramandeep Kaur (17) and son Arvinder Singh (14) into the Sirhind canal on June 4, 2004. Only the bodies of Kulwant and Ramandeep were found. The judge handed out the death sentence under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict. The court also awarded life imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 5,000, under Section 364 (kidnapping or abduction in order to murder) of the IPC and four-year rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence).

Khushwinder had also murdered six members of another Fatehgarh Sahib family, who were close relatives of his wife Manjit Kaur, in the same manner in 2012. He is already on death row in that case. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had confirmed the death penalty. His appeal is pending in the Supreme Court. The CBI’s public prosecutor, Kumar Rajat, said Khushwinder’s elder brother Kulwinder Singh worked as an accountant for Kulwant Singh, who owned a rice mill. “Khushwinder came to know that Kulwant had sold his land and received around Rs 21 lakh. He convinced Kulwant and his family that he could solve their problems by performing religious ceremonies with a godman’s help. Later, he pushed them into the canal,” the CBI public prosecutor said.

The case was handed over to the CBI in 2007 by the High Court following a petition filed by Kulwant’s relative Kultar Singh. Khushwinder, who worked as a typist and ran a photostat shop in Fatehgarh Sahib, was nabbed after the 2012 murders came to light. In this case, the victims were his wife’s uncle and retired cop Gurmail Singh (70), Gurmail’s wife Paramjit Kaur (60), son Gurinder Singh (30), son-in-law Rupinder Singh, grandson Jaskirat Singh and granddaughter Prabhsimran Singh. One member of the family, Jasmine, had survived. Her testimony helped the police solve the 2004 and 2012 murder cases.

Case Highlights

Did it for money

Khushwinder Singh, a typist, came to know that rice mill owner Kulwant Singh had earned around Rs 21 lakh from the sale of land. His brother, Kulwinder Singh, worked as an accountant for Kulwant
With an eye on the money, Khushwinder convincedKulwant and his family members that he could solve their problems with the help of a godman
He took Kulwant, latter's wife Harjit Kaur, daughter Ramandeep Kaur and son Arvinder Singh to the banksof the Sirhind canal and pushed them into the water. Only the bodies of Kulwant and Ramandeep were found
Khushwinder had murdered six members of another family, relatives of his wife Manjit Kaur, in the samemanner in 2012

Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/man-gets-death-penalty-for-murdering-four-of-family/644310.html (Accessed 25 December 2018)

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