Imposition Of Death Penalty Not The Only Alternative: Bombay HC Commutes Capital Punishment Of Man Convicted For Murder Of 2 Women & 2-Yr-Old Kid

The Bombay High Court commuted the death sentence of a man to imprisonment of life who was convicted for allegedly setting ablaze two women and a 2-year-old kid.

The Court was dealing with a confirmation case arising out of a reference made by the Sessions Judge under Section 366(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for confirmation of death sentence awarded.

A Division Bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Shyam C. Chandak observed, “We find that the accused had come with the intent of killing Amravati and PW1-Roshni and not Kanta and her daughter Angel, however, in the process, both Amravati and Angel sustained injuries and succumbed to the same, and Kanta sustained injuries as stated aforesaid. Thus, the conviction awarded to the accused for causing the death of Amravati and Angel and injury to Kanta needs to be confirmed. We, in the facts, do not find that imposition of death penalty is the only alternative, having regard to the evidence that has come on record and we also do not find that the case falls in the category of ‘rarest of rare cases’ warranting death sentence.”

Addl. PP K.V. Saste appeared for the appellant/State while Advocate Farhana Shah appeared for the respondent/accused.

Factual Background -

As per the prosecution case, the incident took place in April 2017 in the noon when Amravati (deceased) and her daughter Roshni were preparing bracelets in the house and during that time, their tenant Kanta with her 2-year-old daughter (deceased) Angel were sitting next to Amravati. The accused allegedly came there with a bottle filled with petrol and stated in Hindi, “Aaj mai tujhe zinda jala dunga” and poured the said petrol on Amravati and the same also fell on Kanta and her daughter-Angel. When Amravati tried to get up, the accused threw a lit matchstick on her due to which she caught fire and so did Kanta and her daughter.

It was also the prosecution case that prior to pouring petrol on Amravati, the accused had thrown petrol on her daughter-Roshni, however, she ran inside the house and when she came out, she saw her mother-Amravati on fire. On hearing the cries, the neighbours came and doused the fire after which the injured were taken to the hospital. Amravati and Angel died during the course of treatment and hence, a case was registered against the accused. During the investigation, the police arrested the accused and the Trial Court framed charge against him under Sections 307, 326(A), and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Trial Court sentenced him to death and hence, the case was before the High Court.

The High Court in the above regard, said, “We have examined the facts and the evidence minutely as well as the parameters laid down in various judgments by the Apex Court. After examining the same, we do not find that this case, in any way, falls in the category of ‘rarest of rare case’ warranting death sentence to the accused. As noted above, the accused has infact admitted to committing the offence. The reason according to the accused was that he was being called Hijda and Chhakka by PW1- Roshni and Amravati.”

The Court added that the death sentence awarded to the accused for causing the death of Amravati and Angel requires to be commuted.

The Court also noted that in the incident, Amravati and an innocent young girl-Angel, aged 2 years lost their lives and one Kanta sustained serious burn injuries.

“There is no past history as far as the accused is concerned. We find that the intention of the accused was clear i.e. to cause the death of Amravati and PW1- Roshni. Of course, Roshni (PW1) survived as she ran away after petrol was poured on her, however, Amravati sustained burn injuries and succumbed to the same”, it further said.

Accordingly, the High Court partly allowed the appeal, confirmed the conviction, but commuted the death sentence.

Cause Title- The State of Maharashtra v. Deepak Birbahadur Jath (Neutral Citation: 2024:BHC-AS:40240-DB)

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