Death Sentence Only When The Alternative Option Is Unquestionably Foreclosed: SC [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court commuted death penalty of a man accused of rape and murder of a nine year old girl and sentenced him to 30 years imprisonment without remission. The bench comprising Justice SA Bobde, Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice R. Subhash Reddy observed that, even though the murder involves exceptional depravity and the manner of commission of the crime is extremely brutal, a death sentence can be imposed only when the alternative option is unquestionably foreclosed. The apex court bench took note of the following mitigating circumstances to hold that the accused does not deserve the sentence of death and the case does not fall within the rarest of rare cases. While commuting the sentence to life imprisonment, the court added: "The brutal sexual assault by the Appellant on the hapless victim of nine years and the grotesque murder of the girl compels us to hold that the release of the Appellant on completion of 14 years of imprisonment would not be in the interest of the society.