Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 16: Two charge-sheets of 13 years old case pending in the court of Sessions Judge Kulgam were disposed off today by Principal Sessions Judge Kulgam Tahir Khurshid Raina by awarding sentence of life imprisonment to the two convicts in a murder case of young couple committed on intervening night of 29/30th of June 2009 in village Behibagh of Kulgam.
The Sessions Court Kulgam framed charges in both the charge-sheets and trial commenced. In the first charge-sheet based on first FIR the accused were charged for commission of abetment of murder while in second charge-sheet they were charged for murder. Evidence recorded in the charge-sheet based on first FIR was made part of the second charge-sheet by the court as witnesses in both the charge-sheets were same except of medical witnesses who conducted autopsy of two dead bodies. The trial went on for 13 long years and finally the cases were heard and decided by Principle District and Sessions Court Kulgam.
While convicting the accused, the court observed, “though the case of prosecution is overwhelmingly based on circumstantial evidence, but the chain of evidence is so connected that it reaches to only one fair conclusion that the author and doer of this dastardly crime were accused only”. Accordingly they were convicted for commission of offence of murder in furtherance of their common intention in both the charge-sheets.
The counsel for the complainant vehemently prayed for awarding death penalty to the convicts on account of commission of double murder which as per his argument falls in rarest of rare category. On the other hand, the defence counsel prayed for award of life imprisonment to the convicts on the basis of various mitigating circumstances.
The court, after giving thoughtful consideration to all aspects of the case, observed ”while concretizing the whole discussion on the subject as to whether death penalty is the appropriate punishment to be awarded even when the crime committed looks to be barbaric, the answer is no unless it survives on the test of ”rarest of rare”, a principle propounded in the Bachan Singh’s case 1980 by the Supreme Court of India”.
Court further observed, “one essentiality is inevitably linked with this doctrine that it has further to satisfy the conditions laid down in the judgment of Supreme Court based on aggravating and mitigating circumstances of the convict”, adding the theory of retributive punishment based on “an eye for an eye” will not survive when seen the overall facts of the case viz – a – viz the mitigating circumstances of the convicts.
The Judge held in the facts and circumstances of the case what appeals to the judicial conscious of the court is to award life imprisonment than death penalty. “Let them incarcerate in the jail till their last breath”, the court said, adding “let them not die with a single death for causing the barbaric death of the young couple, leaving behind their three years old child but have a continuous deep penitence of their cruel crime committed, coupled with continuous feel of its consequences”.
Accordingly, court awarded life imprisonment to the accused subject to confirmation by the High Court.
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