{"id":298935,"date":"2023-08-09T11:00:14","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T05:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=298935"},"modified":"2023-08-09T10:33:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T05:03:24","slug":"madhya-pradesh-high-court-commutes-death-sentence-to-life-sentence-without-remission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/08\/09\/madhya-pradesh-high-court-commutes-death-sentence-to-life-sentence-without-remission\/","title":{"rendered":"Rape and murder of 4-year-old girl child: Madhya Pradesh High Court commutes death sentence to life sentence without remission"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Madhya Pradesh High Court:<\/b> While deciding a case pertaining to the disposal of death reference and a criminal appeal against the conviction and sentencing of the appellant for committing heinous crimes against a 4 year old girl child, a single-judge bench comprising of Vishal Mishra,*<\/b> J., upheld that the Trial Court’s decision and commuted the appellant’s death sentences to life imprisonment without the possibility of remission. The Court held that the accused was guilty of the offenses charged, including rape and murder and the conviction was based on a combination of circumstantial evidence, including the disclosure statement, DNA analysis, and medical findings.<\/p>\n

Brief Facts<\/b><\/p>\n

The instant matter pertains to the disposal of death reference and a criminal appeal arising from a judgment dated 27-10-2018, passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Gauharganj District Raisen.<\/p>\n

The prosecution’s case revolved around the disappearance of a minor girl on 13.08.2018, her subsequent rape and murder, and the recovery of her body based on the appellant’s statement under Section 27<\/a> of the Evidence Act, 1872<\/a>. The appellant was convicted and sentenced for various offenses including under Sections 366<\/a>, 376(2)(j)<\/a>, 376(2)(m)<\/a>, 376-AB<\/a>, 376-A<\/a>, 302<\/a>, 201<\/a> of the Penal Code, 1860<\/a> (IPC) and Section 5(n), (6)<\/a> of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012<\/a> (POCSO Act).<\/p>\n

Moot Point<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Whether the evidence presented by the prosecution is sufficient to establish the guilt of the appellant beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Whether the appellant’s statement under Section 27<\/a> of the Evidence Act, 1872<\/a> and the subsequent recovery of the victim’s body are admissible and credible evidence.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Amicus Curiae’s Contentions [appellant-accused]<\/b><\/p>\n

    The amicus curiae contended that the case is based on circumstantial evidence, last seen theory, and the recovery of the victim’s body at the appellant’s instance. The appellant questioned the reliability of the recovery of the body at his instance due to discrepancies in the information timeline provided by different witnesses. The amicus raised concerns about the DNA evidence, highlighting lapses in the collection, sealing, and transmission of samples for forensic analysis.<\/p>\n

    The amicus contended that the last seen theory should not be solely relied upon, especially given the gap between the last sighting of the victim and the recovery of the body. It was argued that the appellant’s right to be informed about the DNA report under Section 313<\/a> of CrPC<\/a> was violated, undermining the credibility of the conviction.<\/p>\n

    Prosecution’s Contentions<\/b><\/p>\n

    The prosecution-respondent vehemently opposed the defendant’s arguments and supported the trial court’s judgment of conviction. It was contended that there is substantial evidence against the appellant, including the victim’s age, eyewitness accounts, and the appellant’s confession. The prosecution emphasized that the last-seen witnesses identified the appellant with the victim, and the recovery of the victim’s clothes corroborated their testimonies.<\/p>\n

    The prosecution refuted the amicus curiae’s doubts about the recovery of the victim’s dead body and asserted that appellant’s information led to the recovery, making him a crucial link. The prosecution further defended the accuracy of the DNA report, claiming that the samples were properly collected, sealed, and sent for examination.<\/p>\n

    Court’s Analysis<\/b><\/p>\n

    The Court rejected appellant’s contention that the police already knew about the body before the disclosure statement was made. The Court observed that disclosure statement made by the accused under Section 27<\/a> of the Evidence Act<\/a> is admissible and reliable as the statement disclosed his involvement in the crime and led to the recovery of the victim’s body.<\/p>\n

    The Court observed that the DNA evidence was collected, sealed, and handled according to proper procedures and the DNA report indicated a match between the accused’s samples and those collected from the victim, further supporting his guilt. The Court further observed that the medical evidence provided through the autopsy report established that the victim was subjected to rape and strangulation. The circumstances surrounding the case, including the accused’s conflicting statements, eyewitness accounts, and the recovered clothes, all point towards his guilt.<\/p>\n

    The Court observed that the presumption under Section 29<\/a> of the POCSO Act<\/a> shifted the burden onto the accused to prove his innocence and in the present matter the accused failed to do so, and the presumption led to a finding of guilt against him.<\/p>\n

    The Court inferred that the accused was responsible for taking the girl child, raping her, and then murdering her based on the chain of circumstances established by the evidence. The accused’s story was contradicted, and various pieces of evidence pointed towards his guilt. The court found the accused guilty and convicted him.<\/p>\n

    The court applied the principles enumerated in Sharad Birdhichand Sarda<\/i> v. State of Maharashtra<\/i>, (1984) 4 SCC 116<\/a> and Sudama Pandey<\/i> v. State of Bihar<\/i>, (2002) 1 SCC 679<\/a>, and concluded that the entire chain of circumstances was proved, and the trial court’s decision to convict the accused was not in error.<\/p>\n

    In order to establish principles for determining death sentences, the Court referred to landmark judgments in Bachan Singh<\/i> v. State of Punjab<\/i>, (1979) 3 SCC 727<\/a> and Machhi Singh<\/i> v. State of Punjab<\/i>, (1983) 3 SCC 470<\/a>, where the Supreme Court laid down principles for determining death sentences included considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and the collective conscience of society and striking a balance between them. The Court observed that the theory of R-R test which included “society’s abhorrence, extreme indignation and antipathy to certain types of crimes which shake the collective conscience of the society”<\/b> is to be applied along with the theory of reformation.<\/p>\n

    While considering the question of the appropriate sentence, the Court examined aggravating and mitigating circumstances and applied the “rarest of rare” doctrine and considered the age of the accused, the possibility of reformation, and society’s perception. After considering all the above-mentioned circumstances, the Court is of view that despite the brutal nature of the crime, the present case did not qualify as the “rarest of rare” cases warranting a death sentence and modified the sentence from death to imprisonment for life without any remission.<\/p>\n

    Court’s Verdict<\/b><\/p>\n

    The court partly allowed the appeal and modified the sentences. The Court affirmed the appellant’s convictions, but the death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of remission. The Court further confirmed other terms of sentences and held that all the substantive sentences would run concurrently.<\/p>\n

    Note:<\/b> Advocate Shri Akash Choudhary was appointed as amicus curiae to argue the death reference is also arguing the criminal appeal filed on behalf of the appellant-accused. The Court directed the High Court Legal Services Authority to remit a fee of Rs. 10,000\/- to the amicus curiae who assisted the Court.<\/p>\n

    [In Reference received from Sessions Judge, Raisen v. Jitendra Uikey, Criminal Reference (Capital Punishment) No. 16 of 2018, order dated -06-2023<\/span>]<\/p>\n

    *Judgment by Justice Vishal Mishra<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

    Advocates who appeared in this case:<\/p>\n

    Shri S.S. Chouhan, Public Prosecutor, Counsel for the Respondent;<\/p>\n

    Shri Akash Choudhary, Amicus Curiae, Counsel for the Appellant.<\/p>\n

    Buy Penal Code, 1860   HERE<\/a><\/h3>\n

    \"penal<\/a><\/p>\n

    Buy Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012   HERE<\/a><\/h3>\n

    \"protection<\/a><\/p>\n

    Buy Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973  HERE<\/a><\/h3>\n

    \"Code<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Madhya Pradesh High Court observed that the test which is to be applied for death sentence are – crime test, i.e., aggravating circumstances and mitigating circumstances, criminal test and R-R test.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67514,"featured_media":291010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[33958,3035,59485,60134,7201,5681,38809],"class_list":["post-298935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-commutation-of-sentence","tag-death_penalty","tag-justice-vishal-mishra","tag-life-sentence-without-remission","tag-madhya-pradesh-high-court","tag-minor","tag-rape-and-murder"],"yoast_head":"\nMadhya Pradesh High Court commutes death sentence to life sentence without Remission in rape and murder case | SCC 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and Death Sentence on the same Day for kidnapping, rape and murder of an 11 Year Old: SC commutes sentence from death to life","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"January 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court: In a case where the order of conviction and sentence was passed on the same day, the 3-judge bench of L. Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna, JJ has stressed on the importance of bifurcated hearing for convicting and sentencing and has observed that the same is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":263242,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/03\/07\/7-year-olds-brutal-rape-and-murder-sc-commutes-death-sentence-no-premature-release-remission-during-30-years-li-as-conscience-of-the-society-cannot-be-ignored\/","url_meta":{"origin":298935,"position":1},"title":"7-year-old’s “brutal” rape and murder: SC commutes Death sentence; No premature release\/remission during 30 years’ LI as “conscience of the society cannot be ignored”\u00a0","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"March 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court: In a case where a man had brutally raped and murdered a 7-year-old girl, the 3-judge bench of AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari* and CT Ravikumar, JJ has reversed the concurrent findings of the Courts below and has commuted the death sentence into that of imprisonment for life, with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-101.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-101.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-101.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":290846,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/04\/28\/unduly-lenient-sentence-shakes-public-confidence-in-the-criminal-justice-system-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":298935,"position":2},"title":"\u201cUndue leniency in sentencing shakes public confidence in Criminal Justice System\u201d: Supreme Court modifies sentence in minor’s rape-murder case","author":"Ridhi","date":"April 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court considered the case wherein the Trial Court proposed award of death sentence for rarest of the rare case, while the Jharkhand High Court modified it to life imprisonment for whole biological life without any scope for remission.","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"unduly lenient sentence","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/unduly-lenient-sentence.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/unduly-lenient-sentence.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/unduly-lenient-sentence.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/unduly-lenient-sentence.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":216948,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2019\/07\/17\/mp-hc-death-penalty-of-a-man-accused-of-rape-and-murder-of-his-6-year-old-daughter-commuted-to-life-imprisonment-after-balancing-aggravating-and-mitigating-circumstances\/","url_meta":{"origin":298935,"position":3},"title":"MP HC | Death penalty of man accused of rape and murder of daughter reduced to life imprisonment","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"July 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Madhya Pradesh High Court: A Division Bench of J.K. Maheshwari and Anjuli Palo, JJ. partly allowed a criminal petition filed by a person accused of rape and murder of his minor daughter, and commuted his death penalty to life imprisonment. In the instant case, the prosecutrix (since deceased) aged six\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":299543,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/08\/17\/rajasthan-hc-commutes-death-penalty-man-convicted-for-rape-and-murder-of-4-and-a-half-year-old-girl\/","url_meta":{"origin":298935,"position":4},"title":"Rajasthan High Court commutes death penalty of a man convicted for rape and murder of 4 and a half-year old girl","author":"Editor","date":"August 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe Trial Court has rightly convicted the accused and we do not find any illegality in the impugned judgment of conviction and therefore, the same deserves to be upheld.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rajasthan high court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/rajasthan-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/rajasthan-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/rajasthan-high-court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/rajasthan-high-court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":351235,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/06\/21\/mp-high-court-commutes-death-sentence-to-25-yrs-imprisonment-in-4-yr-old-minor-rape-case-scc-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":298935,"position":5},"title":"Accused can\u2019t said to be \u201cbrutal\u201d though \u201cbarbaric\u201d; MP High Court commutes death sentence to 25 yrs imprisonment in 4-yr-old minor rape case","author":"Ritu","date":"June 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"While the crime was heinous and against a child, the Court noted that although the act was \u201cbarbaric\u201d, it could not be termed \u201cbrutal\u201d in the sense that it required capital punishment.","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Madhya Pradesh High Court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Madhya-Pradesh-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Madhya-Pradesh-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Madhya-Pradesh-High-Court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Madhya-Pradesh-High-Court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67514"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}