Death Penalty-Court Duty Bound To Consider Possibility Of Reformation Even If Accused Remains Silent
Case: Mofil Khan and another versus The State of Jharkhand
Coram: Justice L Nageswara Rao, Justice BR Gavai and Justice BV Nagarathna
Case No.: Review Petition (Criminal) No.641 Of 2015
Court Observation: “One of the mitigating circumstances is the probability of the accused being reformed and rehabilitated. The State is under a duty to procure evidence to establish that there is no possibility of reformation and rehabilitation of the accused”
“It is well-settled law that the possibility of reformation and rehabilitation of the convict is an important factor which has to be taken into account as a mitigating circumstance before sentencing him to death. There is a bounden duty cast on the Courts to elicit information of all the relevant factors and consider those regarding the possibility of reformation, even if the accused remains silent”
“We have examined the socio-economic background of the Petitioners, the absence of any criminal antecedents, affidavits filed by their family and community members with whom they continue to share emotional ties and the certificate issued by the Jail Superintendent on their conduct during their long incarceration of 14 years. Considering all of the above, it cannot be said that there s no possibility of reformation of the Petitioners, foreclosing the alternative option of a lesser sentence and making the imposition of death sentence imperative. Therefore, we convert the sentence imposed on the Petitioners from death to life”
[doc id=12186]
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Keywords
Death Penalty, Possibility Of Reformation
