State Of Himachal Pradesh vs Chander Sharma on 23 September, 2025
244. The lack of forthcoming information has led to
attempts by the courts, to look backwards--sometimes
many years after the crime has been committed--to
evaluate on the one hand, circumstances that could not
have been paused in time, and on the other those which
can be captured, but for which there exists no frame of
reference from the past, for comparison. This
inconsistency in some courts calling for reports, while
others fail to -- further contributes to our patchwork
jurisprudence on capital sentencing, and in turn
undermines the equality principle and due process
protections that Santosh Bariyar [Santosh Kumar
Satishbhushan Bariyar v. State of Maharashtra, (2009) 6 SCC
498, para 112 : (2009) 2 SCC (Cri) 1150] recognises as
existing, in favour of death row convicts.