MOHAN Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE four appeals by four different appellants are directed against the common judgment dated 27-5-1997 of the High Court of Madras. By the impugned judgment the High Court has confirmed the conviction and sentence passed by the learned Sessions Judge as under :- <FRM>JUDGEMENT_336_5_1998Html1.htm</FRM>

(2.) SINCE this Court is required to examine the correctness of the extreme sentence of death penalty awarded against the appellants only, it is not necessary to narrate the entire facts in greater detail. Suffice it to say that the Courts below have found that the accused persons entered into a conspiracy to get Rs. 5 lakhs as ranson from the father of the deceased by kidnapping the deceased a young boy of 10 years old. In accordance with the plan accused Pushparaj who was the driver of the car belonging to Singaravelu went to the school on 28th of June, 1993, at 12 noon where the deceased was studying and as soon as he met the deceased told him that his father has been waiting for him at Meenambakkam and sent the car to take the deceased in the car. As Pushparaj was their driver the deceased relied upon his words and got into the Maruti Van which had been parked nearby. In the car accused Mohan, accused Gopi, accused Chandrasekaran, since dead, and accused Sampath were there and all of them took the deceased to a place in Moovarasanpettai Main Road and kept him detained there. They contacted the father of the deceased and demanded Rs. 5 lakhs so that the boy would be released otherwise they would kill the boy. On 29/06/1993, the accused persons mixed some coppersulphate in a glass of cold drink and offered the same to the deceased while they had already tied legs and hands of the deceased. The accused persons began killing the boy by tying the boy's neck with a rope and pulling its both ends and closing the mouth of the deceased with a piece of cloth. By this process they killed the deceased by strangulation. Thereafter the dead body of the deceased was kept in the empty TV box and the box was dropped into an un-used well near a temple. Even after killing the boy they contacted the father of the deceased Singaravelu to get the ransom of Rs. 5 lakhs and ultimately succeeded in extracting a sum of Rs. 5 lakhs from him on 4-7-1993 and divided the amount among themselves.

(3.) SO far as appellant No. 2 Gopi is concerned, according to Mr. Muralidhar learned counsel appearing for the appellants, even the confession of co-accused Mohan clearly indicates that he was not a part of any conspiracy nor did he willingly take part in the commission of the murder. On the other hand it is the statement of Mohan that when he disclosed the plan to Muthu and Gopi they were flabbergasted and ultimately they were made to agree out of fear. According to the learned counsel the circumstances under which he was first released on bail and was then re-arrested throws considerable doubt on the exact date and manner of his arrest. Said accused Gopi has also not received any part of ransom money nor has there been any recovery made by the police at his instance and these circumstances can be held to be mitigating circumstances for not confirming death sentence against him.