Principles for imposition of death sentence, surveyed in detail. Practical guidelines framed for collection/collation of mitigating circumstances.

This court in Bachan Singh had warned against categorising cases.96 Rejecting the contention that standards and guidelines should be laid down, it was noted in Bachan Singh that degree of culpability cannot be measured, and aggravating and mitigating circumstances could not be rigidly enumerated so as to exclude “all free play of discretion”. Reiterating that criminal cases cannot be categorised as there were infinite, unpredictable and unforeseen variations, it was held that by such categorization, the sentencing process would cease to be judicial, and such standardisation or sentencing discretion is beyond the court’s function. Therefore, it would be befitting if reliance were placed not solely on those five categories of crimes (which lays undue emphasis on aggravating circumstances) enumerated in Machhi Singh, and instead on the two question- test, and the four guiding principles of Bachan Singh that were succinctly culled out in Machhi Singh. Para 222

The crime that the appellants have been held guilty of, is heinous; its execution was vicious and cruel, by any stretch of imagination. The deception practised by the appellants, in entering the flat, and, when encountering resistance, attacking the three women, was calculated and ruthless. The repeated stabbings of two of the deceased, almost in a frenzy, on the one hand, and the defenceless state of the victims, on the other, highlights that the accused were willing to go ahead with their plans (of robbing) after eliminating the women of hree generations. No doubt, two of the victims appear to have put up resistance, if one looks at the stab wounds inflicted all over their bodies, including on their arms and faces. Yet, they were unarmed and weak. Para 260

While there is no doubt that this case captured the attention and indignation of the society in Indore, and perhaps the state of Madhya Pradesh, as a cruel crime that raised alarm regarding safety within the community – it must be remembered that public opinion has categorically been held to be neither an objective circumstance relating to crime, nor the criminal, and the courts must exercise judicial restraint and play a balancing role.Para 263

Held, in the overall interests of justice to commute the death sentence of all three accused, to life imprisonment for a minimum term of 25 year

[Manoj v. State of M.P., (2023) 2 SCC 353]

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