NDLI: Sudam @ Rahul Kaniram Jadhav Vs. The State of Maharashtra

Sudam @ Rahul Kaniram Jadhav Vs. The State of Maharashtra

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Sudam @ Rahul Kaniram Jadhav Vs. The State of Maharashtra

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	IPC Scope of review in criminal proceedings Review Jurisdiction s.302 Circumstantial evidence
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Case Type	Review Petition
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Others
Headnote	Review Jurisdiction: Scope of review in criminal proceedings – Held: In criminal proceedings, the scope of review jurisdiction of Supreme Court is guided by Art.137 of the Constitution as well as Or.XL r.10 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966, which permit the Court to correct miscarriage of justice caused by an error apparent on the face of the record – Supreme Court cannot re-appreciate evidence in its entirety in the exercise of its review jurisdiction.Penal Code, 1860: s.302 – Circumstantial evidence – Conviction by courts below and upheld by Supreme Court – Review petition – Held: There is no ground for interference with any finding of the Courts with respect to the appreciation of the testimony relating to the “last seen” circumstance, the extra judicial confession and the motive of the petitioner – Chain of circumstances established the guilt of the petitioner beyond reasonable doubt. Sentence/Sentencing: Death sentence – Sentencing in case of circumstantial evidence – Though it may be a relevant consideration in sentencing that the evidence in a given case is circumstantial in nature, there is no bar on the award of the death sentence in cases based upon such evidence – In such a situation, it is upto the Court to determine whether the accused may be sentenced to death upon the strength of circumstantial evidence, given the peculiar facts and circumstances of each case, while assessing all the relevant aggravating circumstances of the crime and mitigating circumstances of the accused. Sentence/Sentencing: Death sentence – Commutation of sentence, prayed – Held: While arriving at the conclusion that the instant case fell into the category of the rarest of rare cases, the Court took into account the premeditated nature of the crime, and its brutal and barbaric nature, observing that the same was sufficient to shock the collective conscience of the society – The Court also opined that the Petitioner was a menace to society and could not be reformed, and that lesser punishment would expose society to peril at his hands – However, the nature of the circumstantial evidence in this case amounts to a mitigating circumstance significant enough to tilt the balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in the Petitioner’s favour – Moreover, it is also possible that the incorrect observations pertaining to deceased’s facial injuries further led the Court to conclude in favour of imposing the death sentence on the Petitioner – Thus, there was a reasonable probability that this Court would have set aside the sentence of death in appeal, since the only surviving evidence against the Petitioner pertained to his motive to commit the crime, the circumstance of “last seen” and a solitary extra-judicial confession – In other words, it cannot be said that the punishment of life imprisonment is unquestionably foreclosed in the instant case, in spite of the gravity and barbarity of the offence – The award of the death penalty in the instant case, based on the evidence on record is not upheld – A sentence of life imprisonment simpliciter would, however, be inadequate, given the gruesome nature of the offence, and the menace posed to society at large by the Petitioner, as evinced by the conduct of the Petitioner in jail – The conduct of the Petitioner in jail was unsatisfactory, and that he was becoming aggressive and indulging in illegal activities in prison, intentionally abusing prisoners and prison staff and provoking fights with other prisoners – It is appropriate to impose a restriction on the Petitioner’s right to remission – Petitioner shall, therefore, remain in prison for the remainder of his life.
Judge	Hon'ble Mr. Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar
Neutral Citation	2019 INSC 1107
Petitioner	Sudam @ Rahul Kaniram Jadhav
Respondent	The State Of Maharashtra
SCR	[2019] 14 S.C.R. 943
Judgement Date	2019-10-01
Case Number	401

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