The Supreme Court has said in one of its important decisions that any convict should be hanged or given the death penalty only when all the hopes and scope of his improvement are over. A bench of Chief Justice Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice PS Narasimha on Tuesday emphasized the importance of what should be the conditions and circumstances in determining whether a convict is reformable or not.
Let us tell you that in the decision of March 21, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court reduced the death sentence of a person named Sundararajan to 20 years in prison. Sundararajan was found guilty of abducting and killing a 7-year-old child in 2009 and was given the death penalty.
While hearing the case, a bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice PS Narasimha upheld Sundararajan’s sentence but commuted the death sentence to 20 years imprisonment. During this, the Court remarked that factors mitigating the punishment of a convict of any criminal act include the background of the accused, his conduct in jail during the period of custody or imprisonment or his criminal history.
Along with this, the Supreme Court said that when all the possibilities of improvement in the convict are over, then only his death sentence should be considered. The division bench passed the order while hearing a review petition filed by Sundararajan against a 2013 verdict of the apex court. In 2013, the apex court had upheld the trial court’s decision to award death sentence to Sundararajan.
While hearing the review petition, the court also ordered initiation of contempt proceedings against the police inspector of Kammapuram police station in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. The Court held the police officer guilty of filing a false affidavit and concealing the conduct of the petitioner in jail and asked the Registry to issue a suo motu notice against the officer.
Get the more latest news updates