JOSEPH ALIAS JOSE Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant was tried by the Court of Sessions, Thodupuzha and was found guilty of the offence punishable under Section 302, IPC, and by the judgement of the Sessions Judge dated 21-1-1992 he has sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life. Though he was found guilty of offence punishable under Sections 449 and 309, IPC. there was no separate sentence. The appellant filed Crl. A. No. 137/92 challenging the conviction and sentence, and the Division Bench of this Court confirmed the conviction of the appellant under Section 302, IPC. but as regards the sentence, the matter was remanded to the Sessions Judge for fresh consideration. The Division Bench was of the opinion that on a perusal of the judgement it would find that there was no proper consideration by the learned Sessions Judge as to whether the case was coming within the category of 'rarest of rare cases'.

(2.) After the remand of the matter to tire sessions Court, no fresh material was brought on record by the appellant on the question of Sentence. Learned Sessions Judge by judgement dated 10th Oct, 1995 held that this was a pre-medidated cold blooded murder, and considering the nature and gravity of the offence, it would come within the ambit of 'rarest of rare cases', and death sentence was imposed on the appellant. Thus the matter has again come up in appeal challenging the sentence.

(3.) A brief history of the facts leading to the conviction of the appellant may be of use to decide the question of death sentence. The appellant was a teenaged boy of 19 years at the time of commission of the crime. The appellant had an infected wound and he went to a private hospital for treatment. The three deceased woman were working as Nursing Assistants/Pharmacists in that hospital during the relevant time. Appellant was in the hospital for some time and he was discharged. He had a complaint that he was discharged before his wound got healed and that he was forced to pay Rs. 300/- to the hospital authorities without there being a proper cure for his illness. On the fateful day, he went to the hospital and trespassed into the laboratory room where these three women were doing work and bolted the room from inside. He demanded Rs. 300/- from these woman and this did not invoke any response from them and the finding of the Sessions Judge which was confirmed by a Division Bench of this Court is that the appellant incessantly stubbed these women and thereby caused fatal injuries on them. The appellant caused some self-inflicted injuries, possibly in a bid to commit suicide.