The Supreme Court on March 27 released a death row convict who spent more than 28 years in prison for the gruesome murder of five women and two children on realising that he was just over 12 years old at the time of the crime in 1994.
A Bench led by Justice Aniruddha Bose relied on the date of birth in the man’s school certificate to zero in on his age. Four other documents, which surfaced at various stages of trial, appeals and review of the case over the years, variously showed his age between 12 and 22 years. There was even an unresolved confusion over the man’s name.
“His age at the time of commission of offence was 12 years and 6 months. Thus, he was a child/juvenile on the date of commission of offence for which he has been convicted,” Justice Bose observed, allowing his appeal for release on the ground of juvenility.
The incident dated back to August 26, 1994. The man and two others had committed the murder in Pune.
“He was arrested on September 5, 1994 from his home village and was in detention for more than 28 years,” the court noted.
The sessions judge had sentenced him to death in February 1998. Appeals and even a review against the sentence had failed.
Different dates
The convict then turned to his plea of juvenility, but even that proved to be quite a riddle for the apex court to unravel with four separate documents — police chargesheet, electoral roll, family card and the school certificate showing different dates of birth.
The apex court found the school certificate the most reliable.
The Bench further added that courts should not take on a “casual or cavalier approach in determining the age of the accused or convict”. Further, Justice Bose said a determination of juvenility should not be guided solely by the gravity or heinousness of the crime.
