iminal Appeal No 137 of 1970
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated February 6 1970 of the Calcutta High Court in Criminal Appeal No 5 of 1964
O P Rana for the appellant
section P Mitra and Sukumar Basu for the respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Sikri CJ
In this case special leave was limited to the question of sentence only The relevant facts for determining this point are as follows  The appellant Vivian Rodrick was tried by the High Court of Calcutta in exercise of its original jurisdiction having been committed to stand his trial by the Presidency Magistrate as early as July 31 1963
The substance of the charges against the appellant were as follows  547 i that on January 13 1963 the appellant was a member of an unlawful assembly guilty of rioting being armed with deadly weapons and as such punishable under section 148 IPC iithat on January 13 1963 the appellant committed the murder of one Vincent D Rozaric and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 302 IPC and iiithat on January 13 1963 the appellant was in possession of explosive substances for unlawful object and thereby committed an offence under section 5 of the Explosive Substances Act
Four other persons Stanley Rodrick Ranjit Mandal Simon Das and Ranjit Biswas were also tried jointly with the appellant and convicted under section 302 read with section 149 and also under section 148 IPC The jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty against the appellant and on September 4 1964 the Presiding Judge convicted the appellant under section 302 IPC and sentenced him to death
At the trial the appellant was also convicted for offences under section 148 IPC and section 5 of the Explosive Substances Act and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for two years and three years respectively
The terms of imprisonment were directed to run concurrently
The appellant filed a petition of appeal under section 411A Cr
PC on September 7 1964 challenging his conviction and the sentences imposed on him
The High Court by its judgment dated September 19 1967 in Criminal Appeal No 5 of 1964 confirmed the conviction and sentences imposed on the appellant
In considering the question of sentence the High Court observed that the murder was a premeditated and cold blooded one
There was not the slightest provocation from the side of the deceased
This is undoubtedly a fit case for capital punishment
No question of showing any leniency on the ground of tenderness of age arises as the appellant is now aged about 35 years
 It was urged before the High Court that the sentence of death should be reduced to rigorous imprisonment for life on account of the long delay that had taken place in hearing the appeal
Although the High Court regretted the delay and the consequent mental suffering undergone by the condemned prisoner it felt that the delay in executing the death sentence was not by itself a sufficient ground for which the court should exercise its jurisdiction to commute the death sentence to one of imprisonment for life
 The appellant sought leave to appeal to this Court against the judgment of the High Court on October 21 1967 and the same 548 was refused on January 8 1968
Having obtained special leave the appellant filed an appeal to this Court Criminal Appeal No 190 of 1968
By its judgment dated April 30 1969 this Court set aside the the judgment and order of the High Court dated September 19 1967 and remanded the appeal to the High Court for fresh disposal and hearing in accordance with law and in the light of the observations contained in this Court s judgment
This Court in its judgment in Cr
No 190 of 1968 observed regarding the four other co accused as follows Though the conviction was for an offence under section 302 read with section 149 IPC curiously they were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment and none of them challenged their conviction in appeals
 On remand the appeal was again dismissed by the High Court on February 6 1970
Chakrabarti J with Whom Amaresh Chandra Roy J agreed again considered the question of Sentence and held that although there had been a delay of more than five years in executing the death sentence that was not by its If sufficient ground for commuting the death sentence
The High Court referred to Nawab Singh vs The State of Uttar Pradesh and Piare Dusadh vs King EMperor2
As the High Court did not find any extenuating circumstances whatsoever that would justify its taking a lenient view in the matter it left to the State Government to take a decision as to whether it should on account of inordinate delay in executing the sentence exercise its powers under section 402 Cr
The learned counsel for the appellant contends that the matter should not have been left to the State Government
In Nawab Singh vs The State of Uttar Pradesh which has been referred to by the High Court in its judgment dated February 6 1970 it is observed It is true that in proper cases an inordinate delay in the execution of the death sentence may be regarded as a ground for commuting it but we desire to point out that this is no rule of law and is a matter primarily for consideration of the local Government
If the Court has to exercise a discretion in such matter the other facts of such case would have to be taken into consideration
In the case before us we find that the murder was a cruel and deliberate one and there was no extenuatin circumstance whatsoever which would justify using ordering a commutation of the death sentence
 1 AIR 1954 SC 278
2 549 It seems to us that the extremely excessive delay in the disposal of the case of the appellant would by itself be sufficient for imposing a lesser sentence of imprisonment for life under section 302
Section 302 IPC prescribes two alternate sentences namely death sentence or imprisonment for life and when there has been inordinate delay in the disposal of the appeal by the High Court it seems to us that it is a relevant factor for the High Court to take into consideration for imposing the lesser sentence
In this particular case as pointed out above the appellant was committed to trial by the Presidency Magistrate as early as July 31 1963 and he was convicted by the Trial Judge on September 4 1964
It is now January 1971 and the appellant has been  for more than six years under the fear of sentence of death
This must have caused him unimaginable mental agony
In our opinion it would be inhuman to make him suffer till the Government decides the matter on a mercy petition
We consider that this is now a fit case for awarding the sentence of imprisonment for life
Accordingly we accept the appeal set aside the order of the High Court awarding death sentence and award a sentence of imprisonment for life
The sentences under section 148 IPC and section 5 of the Explosive Substances Act and under section 302 IPC shall run concurrently
VPS Sentence modified


Summary:
The accused was committed to trial in July 1963 and was convicted and sentenced to death on September 4 1964
The appeal to the High Court under section 411A Cr
PC was finally dismissed on February 6 1970
The High Court left it to the State Government whether it should reduce the sentence on account of inordinate delay
In appeal to this Court on the question of sentence HELD  Section 302 IPC prescribes two alternate sentences namely death sentence or imprisonment for life
When there has been inordinate delay in the disposal of the appeal by the High Court it is a relevant factor for the High Court to take into consideration for imposing the lesser sentence
549 A B In the present case the appellant has been for 6 years under the fear of sentence of death which must have caused him unimaginable mental agony
In view of the excessive delay it is a fit case for awarding the lesser sentence instead of leaving it to the Government to decide the matter on a mercy petition
549 B D Nawab Singh vs State of UP AIR 1954 SC 278 referred to