MITHU MITHU SURJIT SINGH SURJIT SINGH MUNAWAR HARUN SHAH KARNAIL SINGH ALIAS FAQIR SINGH JAVED AHMED ABDULHAMID PAWALE Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB:UNION OF INDIA:STATE OF PUNJAB:STATE OF MAHARASHTRA:STATE OF PUNJAB:STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The question which arises for consideration in these proceedings is whether Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code, infringes the guarantee contained in Art. 21 of the Constitution which provides that "No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law".

(2.) Section 300 of the Penal Code defines 'Murder', while Sec. 302 prescribes the punishment for murder. Section 302 reads thus:

(3.) The Indian Penal Code was passed in 1960. The framers of that Code achieved a measure of success in classifying offences according to their subject-matter, defining them with precision and in prescribing what. in the context of those times was considered to be commensurate punishment for those offences. One of the problems which they had to deal with was as to the punishment which should be prescribed for the offence of murder committed by a person who is under a sentence of life imprisonment. They solved that problem by enacting Section 303, which reads thus :