RAM PAL Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this appeal, while granting leave, this Court confined the scope of the appeal to the consideration of the question of sentence only.

(2.) THE appellant alongwith seven others, who survived the trial out of the eleven persons originally tried, were convicted for offences punishable under Secs. 302,307,436 and 440, all read with Sec. 149, IPC. THE trial Court imposed varying sentences on them, but in regard to appellant and one other person, awarded the sentence of death and referred the said sentence to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench for confirmation. THE High Court by the impugned judgment has accepted the reference and confirmed the death sentence awarded to the appellant but taking into consideration the age of the other accused who was also sentenced to death converted his sentence from death of life imprisonment. In this appeal, the appellant questions the sentence of death awarded to him on various grounds.

(3.) WE have carefully considered the argument addressed on behalf of the parties. It is true the incident in question has pre- maturely terminated the life of 21 people but then number of deaths cannot be the sole criterion for awarding the. maximum punishment of death. While in a given case death penalty may be the appropriate sentence even for a single murder, it would not necessarily mean that in every case of multiple murders death penalty has to be the normal punishment. Guidelines to be borne in mind while awarding death sentences have been considered and laid down by this Court in a number of cases but for the purpose of deciding this appeal it would suffice if we refer to a Constitution Bench judgment of this Court in the case of Bachan Singh vs. State of Punjab, 1980 (2) SCC 684. In the said case this Court after considering the constitutional validity of the provisions which empowers the Court to award death sentence laid down the following broad guidelines to be borne in mind by the Courts while considering the question of awarding a sentence in cases involving murder: