ANIL @ ANTHONY ARIKSWAMY JOSEPH versus STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

Citation: [2014] 3 S.C.R. 34 · Decided: 20-02-2014 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN · Disposal: Disposed off
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Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
[2014) 3 S.C.R. 34 
ANIL @ ANTHONY ARIKSWAMY JOSEPH 
v. 
STATE OF MAHARASHTRA 
(Criminal Appeal Nos. 1419-1420 of 2012) 
FEBRUARY 20, 2014 
[K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN AND VIKRAMAJIT SEN, JJ.] 
PENAL qoDE, 1860: SS. 302, 377 and 201 - Sodomy, 
buggery and bestiality - Murder - Minor aged 10 years 
C subjected to carnal intercourse and then strangulated to death 
- Conviction and death sentence - On appeal, held: Evidence 
of prosecution witnesses in its entirety trustworthy and reliable 
- Sister of accused categorically stated that she had heard the 
cries of the victim-deceased coming from the room of accused 
D during mid-night and she could not sleep tiff the cries 
subsided - She had no axe to grind against her own brother 
and was a trustworthy witness - School bag of the deceased 
and pant was recovered from a box placed beneath cot in the 
house of accused which indicated that deceased was in the 
E company of the accused on the fateful night - DNA test also 
proved that anal smear matched with the DNA profile of smear 
stains, which also matched with the control blood sample of 
the accused - Consent of a passive agent was not at all a 
defence, he being a minor - Prosecution clearly established 
F that, after subjecting the boy to Pederasty, he was strangulated 
to death - Case u/ss.302, 377 and 201 /PC clearly made out 
- Accused committed the crime at the age of 35 years and a 
fully matured person - There was no mitigating circumstance 
favouring him - There was nothing to show that he was under 
G any emotional or mental stress - The offence was committed 
only to satisfy his lust, in a perverted way -. The murder was 
committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical and 
dastardly manner and the accused was in a dominating 
position and the victim was an innocent boy - Life of a boy, 
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34 
ANIL @ ANTHONY ARIKSWAMY JOSEPH v. STATE 
35 
OF MAHARASHTRA 
the only son of his mother, was taken away which pricks not A 
only the judicial conscience but also the conscience of the 
society - Incarceration of a further period of thirty years, without 
remission, in addition to the sentence already undergone, will 
be· an adequate punishment in the facts and circumstances 
of the case, rather than death sentence - Sentence! B 
Sentencing. 
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE: Deoxyribonucleic acid, 
or DNA - Evidentiary value of - Held: DNA is a molecule that 
encodes the genetic information in all living organisms - DNA 
genotype can be obtained from any biological material such C 
as bone, blood, semen, saliva, hair, skin, etc. - Generally, 
when DNA profile of a sample found at the scene of crime 
matches with DNA profile of the suspect, it can generally be 
concluded that both samples have the same biological origin 
- DNA profile is valid and reliable, but variance in a particular D 
result depends on the quality control and quality procedure 
in the laboratory - Penal Code, 1860 - Evidence. 
SENTENCE/SENTENCING: 
Rarest of rare case - Held: R-R Test depends upon the 
E 
perception of the society that is "society-centric" and not 
"Judge-centric': that is, whether the society will approve the 
awarding of death sentence to certain types of crimes or not 
- While applying that test, the court has to look into variety of 
factors like society's abhorrence, extreme indignation and 
F 
antipathy of certain types of crimes like sexual assault and 
murder of minor girls, intellectually challenged minor girls, 
minors suffering from physical disability, old and infirm 
women, etc. - In the instant case, offence u/s. 377 was fully 
proved so also the offence u/s.302 - Indian society and also 
G 
the International society abhor pederasty, an unnatural sex, 
i.e. carnal intercourse between a man and a minor boy or a 
girl - When the victim is a minor, consent is not a defence, 
irrespective of the views expressed at certain quarters on 
consensual sex between adults. 
· · 
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2014] 3 S.C.R. 
A 
Reformation and rehabilitation - Determination of 
sentence - Duty of courts - Held: It is the duty of the Court to 
ascertain whether the accused would be a menace to the 
society and there wol(ld be no possibility of reformation and 
rehabilitation and the 'state is obliged to furnish materials for 
B and against the possibility of reformation and rehabilitation 
of the accused. 
CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, 1973: s.235(2) rl 
w s.354(3) - Death sentence - Held: When culpability 
assumes the proportions of
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