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Showing contexts for: mitigating circumstances in Mohinder Singh vs State Of Punjab on 28 January, 2013Matching Fragments
10) On the other hand, the Sessions Court had attempted to draw a balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances by stating two mitigating circumstances as follows:
1. Firstly, his age at the time of commission of crime i.e. 41 years.
2. Secondly, that the accused is a poor man, who had no livelihood.
While it is true that the above two circumstances alone will not make good for commuting the death sentence to life sentence, however, before we move on to enumerate the other mitigating circumstances in this case, it is necessary to consider few case laws which reiterate that brutality is not the sole criterion of determining whether a case falls under the “rarest of rare” categories.
13) In Machhi Singh and Ors. vs. State of Punjab, (1983) 3 SCC 470, a three-Judge Bench of this Court while following the ratio in Bachan Singh (supra) laid down certain guidelines amongst which the following is relevant in the present case:
“A balance-sheet of aggravating and mitigating circumstances has to be drawn up and in doing so the mitigating circumstances have to be accorded full weightage and a just balance has to be struck between the aggravating and the mitigating circumstances before the option is exercised.”
19) Treating the case on the touchstone of the guidelines laid down in Bachan Singh (supra), Machhi Singh (supra) and other decisions and balancing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances emerging from the evidence on record, we are not persuaded to accept that the case can appropriately be called the “rarest of rare” case warranting death penalty. We also find it difficult to hold that the appellant is such a dangerous person that sparing his life will endanger the community. We are also not satisfied that the circumstances of the crime are such that there is no other alternative but to impose death sentence even after according maximum weightage to the mitigating circumstances in favour of the accused. In our considered view, this case is the one in which humanist approach must be taken in the matter of awarding punishment.
- JT 2012 (8) SC 4. From conspectus consideration of the above decisions apart from the four principles laid down in Bachan Singh (supra) and also the requirement of a balance sheet of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the following principles are required to be borne in mind:
i) A conclusion as to the ‘rarest of rare’ aspect with respect to a matter shall entail identification of aggravating and mitigating circumstances relating both to the crime and the criminal.