BHAGWANI versus THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

Citation: [2022] 8 S.C.R. 1 · Decided: 18-01-2022 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: L. NAGESWARA RAO · Disposal: Case Partly allowed

Cited by 2 judgment(s) · cites 6 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

[2022] 8 S.C.R. 1
1
BHAGWANI
v.
THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH
(Criminal Appeal Nos. 101-102 of 2022)
JANUARY 18, 2022
[L. NAGESWARA RAO, B. R. GAVAI AND
B. V. NAGARATHNA, JJ.]
Penal Code, 1860 – ss.363, 366A, 364, 346, 376D, 376A,
302 and 201 – Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,
2012 – s.5(g)(m) r/w s.6 – Kidnapping, rape and murder of 11 year
old girl – Circumstantial evidence – PW-2 (father of victim) along
with his family members attended a ceremony at the house of one
‘AM’ in the evening – His 11 years old daughter went missing and
was found dead next morning – Appellant alongwith co-accused-
’S’ (since deceased) was convicted and sentenced to death – On
appeal, held: Medical evidence shows that the deceased was raped
and killed – Appellant and ‘S’ had alcohol and were together at the
house of ‘AM’ – Next day morning, they went to PW-9 and told him
that a big blunder took place – Their eyes were red, hair was
scattered and they were scared – Pursuant to the disclosure statement,
the clothes of the appellant were seized from the cowshed in his
house – Insofar as Article D, a full pant of the appellant is concerned,
according to DNA report multiple peaks were observed – DNA
profiling of the articles Q, R and S which are the vaginal slide,
rectal slide and dried blood on the hair of the deceased showed Y
(male) STR – Blood sample of ‘S’ matched with the articles found
on Q, R and S – Appellant miserably failed to prove an alibi – There
is lack of any explanation for the scratch injuries found on his
body – Appellant guilty of committing the offences as charged –
Conviction upheld, however the sentence is converted from death
to that of imprisonment for life for a period of 30 years without
remission.
Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 – s.235(2) – Constitution
of India – Article 21 – Disturbing tendency of Trial Courts
adjudicating criminal cases involving rape and murder in haste –
Held: An accused is entitled for a fair trial guaranteed under Article
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
2
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2022] 8 S.C.R.
21 – The object and purpose of s.235 (2), CrPC is that the accused
must be given an opportunity to make a representation against the
sentence to be imposed on him – A bifurcated hearing for convicting
and sentencing is necessary to provide an effective opportunity to
the accused – Adequate opportunity to produce relevant material
on the question of death sentence shall be provided to the accused
by the Trial Court – In the present case, it is travesty of justice as
the appellant was not given a fair opportunity to defend himself –
The judgment was dictated on 03.11.2017 and on the same day, the
Trial Court passed an order, sentencing him to death penalty –
Deprecation.
Sentence/Sentencing – Death penalty – Mitigating
circumstances – Appellant was convicted and sentenced for
kidnapping, rape and murder of 11 year old girl – Held: Gravity of
the crime was taken into consideration while imposing death sentence
but the mitigating circumstances and the probability of reformation
and rehabilitation of the accused wasn’t considered – Appellant
was aged 25 years on the date of commission of the offence and
belongs to a ST community, eking his livelihood by doing manual
labour – No evidence to show that there is no probability of his
rehabilitation and reformation and that the question of an alternative
option to death sentence is foreclosed – Appellant had no criminal
antecedents – Nothing adverse reported against his conduct in jail
– Death sentence requires to be commuted to life imprisonment –
However, taking into account the barbaric and savage manner in
which the offences of rape and murder were committed on a hapless
11 year old girl, the appellant is sentenced to life imprisonment for
a period of 30 years without remission.
Partly allowing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1.1 The undisputed facts are that PW-2 along with
his family members attended the Chowk Barhon ceremony at
the house of ‘AM’ on the evening of 14.04.2017. His 11 years
old daughter went missing and was found dead on the next day
morning. The Appellant and ‘S’ were arrested on the next day
and on the basis of the statements made by them, recoveries of
their clothes were made. The medical evidence shows that she
was raped and killed. A green shirt of check pattern whose two
front black buttons were broken, which is torn near the shoulder
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
3
and has blood spot was seized from the flowerpot on the roof of
the cowshed of the Appell

Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.