While staying the execution of convicts Rajesh, Pawan, Sunil aka Mada, Padam, Sarwar, Manbir and Sunil aka Sheela, a Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta also admitted their appeals against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s March 19 verdict upholding the trial court’s decision to award them capital punishment.
The convicts contended that neither the trial court nor the high court made any individual assessment of the mitigating circumstances in favour of each of the accused. The courts below simply went by the brutal nature of the crime, said senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija – who represented the convicts before the Supreme Court.
The 27-year-old victim — a differently-abled woman brought from Nepal was residing with her sister in Rohtak. Acting on a tip-off, the police had arrested Padam, who spilled the beans during interrogation leading to arrest of other six accused. Seventh accused – Somvir – had committed suicide in the national capital the day Padam was arrested.
The trial court had in December 2015 sentenced them to be “hanged by neck till they are dead” for murder and criminal conspiracy under Sections 302 and 120-B of IPC and were also awarded imprisonment for rest of their natural life for gang rape under Section 376-D of the IPC.
The High Court was shocked to see the number and nature of injuries inflicted through “brutal and predatory acts of perpetrators of the barbaric crime”.
While upholding their capital punishment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also imposed a fine ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 50 lakh on them.
Death sentence was not enough and properties of convicts in heinous crime cases should be sold for recovery of heavy fine to be slapped on them, the HC had said and directed Rohtak Deputy Commissioner to identify immovable properties of all convicts within a month and sell the attached assets two months thereafter.
“We think imposition of heavy fine, which if recovered by sale of the properties of the guilty, would prove additional deterrent,” the HC had said, adding the victim or relatives would also find some solace, if they were compensated by selling the properties of those found guilty.
No comments:
Post a Comment