Case: Dayanidhi Bisoi Vs. State Of Orissa

again is a circumstance which establishes the presence of the appellant in the flat of the accused and blood stain found in the said finger prints taken from the place of incident indicates that the appellant must have been in the flat after the assault had taken place on the deceased. 23. From the above circumstances discussed by us namely - (a) that the appellant was related to the deceased and was on visiting terms with them and on the evening of 3.6.98 he was in the company of Anirudha and was seen leaving the house of Anirudha on the morning of 4.6.1998 coupled with the fact that he was not in his own village as also the statement of deceased Lata made to PW-3 that she had a visitor from the village for dinner shows that the appellant was in the company of the deceased on the night of 3rd and was last seen leaving the place in the morning of 4.6.1998 and that the appellant was in need of money; (b) and that on that intervening night the deceased met homicidal death because of the injuries caused by a weapon like M.O. VIII containing blood of the same group as that of Puja was recovered at the instance of the appellant; (c) and that the appellant was in need of money; (d) and that the gold ornaments belonging to deceased Lata and Puja were in the possession of the appellant on 4.6.1998 and were sold to PW-17 for a sum of Rs. 7200/- which money was recovered at the instance of the appellant from his house; (c) and that the Titan, ladies wrist watch belonging to deceased Lata was recovered at the instance of the appellant from his house; (f) and that the finger prints of the appellant with blood stains were found in the house of the deceased immediately after the murder was discovered, in our considered opinion, show that the prosecution has established beyond all reasonable doubt that these incriminating circumstances indicate a hypothesis consistent only with the guilt of the accused and each and every such circumstance form a link completing a chain of circumstances without break establishing the involvement of the appellant in the murder of Anirudha, Lata and Puja. Therefore, we have no hesitation in accepting the prosecution case concurring with the finding of the two courts below in regard to the guilt of the appellant. 24. Since the courts below have elaborately discussed the case law applicable to various issues involved in this case, we do not think it necessary for us to reconsider the same, having independently considered the material produced by the prosecution as against the appellant.25. Having agreed with the conclusions of the courts below in regard to their findings as to the guilt of the appellant, we will now consider the merit of the sentence imposed on the appellant by the two courts below. As noticed above, the learned Judge on facts and circumstances of this case found it appropriate to award the maximum sentence of death and on his reference the High Court has agreed with him on the question of sentence also. Learned counsel appearing for the appellant submitted before us that the appellants age is 35 years and there is no material to show that he is involved in any other crime prior to this. He submitted that the crime in question as per the prosecution case itself is because of the acute financial need of the appellant and that he has aged parents and minor daughters and there is every possibility of he being rehabilitated if given an opportunity. Therefore, he prays that the sentence of death may be reduced to life imprisonment.26. We have taken note of various judgments of this Court like in the case of Bachan Singh vs. State of Punjab (AIR 1980 SC 898 ), Surjvaram vs. State of Rajasthan (1997 (12) CCR (SC) 214), Ravji alias Ram Chandra vs. State of Rajasthan (1996 (2) SCC 175 ) and Dhananjoy Chatterjee alias Dhana vs. State of W.B. (1994 (2) SCC 220 ) which judgments have also been considered by the courts below. A cumulative reading of these judgments shows that for awarding a punishment of death sentence, there must be some special reasons, the courts should give relative weight to the aggravating and mitigating factors available on the facts of the case, the case in question should be a rarest of the rare case. Having noticed the above principles broadly laid down by this Court to be borne in mind by the courts while awarding death penalty, we find both the courts below have considered each and every aspect required to be taken note of by the courts before choosing to award the death sentence in this case. On re-appreciation of those material on record, we find no reason to differ from the said findings of the courts below. The fact that the murder in question is committed in such a deliberate and diabolic manner while the victims were sleeping without any provocation whatsoever from the victims side, that too having enjoyed the hospitality and kindness of the victims, indicates the cold blooded and premeditated approach of the appellant to put to death the victims which include a child of three years age just to gain some monetary benefit. In our opinion, the extenuating circumstances put forth by the learned counsel for the appellant in regard to the age of the appellant, his surviving relatives and the possibility of rehabilitation would not, in our opinion, justify the courts to impose a sentence of life imprisonment on the facts and circumstances of this case. Hence, we have no hesitation in agreeing with the findings of the courts below and coming to the conclusion that the case in hand is a rarest of the rare case involving a pre-planned brutal murder without provocation, hence, we find no reason whatsoever to interfere even with the quantum of punishment awarded by the courts below.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]24. Since the courts below have elaborately discussed the case law applicable to various issues involved in this case, we do not think it necessary for us to reconsider the same, having independently considered the material produced by the prosecution as against the appellant.25. Having agreed with the conclusions of the courts below in regard to their findings as to the guilt of the appellant, we will now consider the merit of the sentence imposed on the appellant by the two courts below. As noticed above, the learned Judge on facts and circumstances of this case found it appropriate to award the maximum sentence of death and on his reference the High Court has agreed with him on the question of sentence also. Learned counsel appearing for the appellant submitted before us that the appellants age is 35 years and there is no material to show that he is involved in any other crime prior to this. He submitted that the crime in question as per the prosecution case itself is because of the acute financial need of the appellant and that he has aged parents and minor daughters and there is every possibility of he being rehabilitated if given an opportunity. Therefore, he prays that the sentence of death may be reduced to life imprisonment.26. We have taken note of various judgments of this Court like in the case of Bachan Singh vs. State of Punjab (AIR 1980 SC 898 ), Surjvaram vs. State of Rajasthan (1997 (12) CCR (SC) 214), Ravji alias Ram Chandra vs. State of Rajasthan (1996 (2) SCC 175 ) and Dhananjoy Chatterjee alias Dhana vs. State of W.B. (1994 (2) SCC 220 ) which judgments have also been considered by the courts below. A cumulative reading of these judgments shows that for awarding a punishment of death sentence, there must be some special reasons, the courts should give relative weight to the aggravating and mitigating factors available on the facts of the case, the case in question should be a rarest of the rare case. Having noticed the above principles broadly laid down by this Court to be borne in mind by the courts while awarding death penalty, we find both the courts below have considered each and every aspect required to be taken note of by the courts before choosing to award the death sentence in this case. Onof those material on record, we find no reason to differ from the said findings of the courts below. The fact that the murder in question is committed in such a deliberate and diabolic manner while the victims were sleeping without any provocation whatsoever from the victims side, that too having enjoyed the hospitality and kindness of the victims, indicates the cold blooded and premeditated approach of the appellant to put to death the victims which include a child of three years age just to gain some monetary benefit. In our opinion, the extenuating circumstances put forth by the learned counsel for the appellant in regard to the age of the appellant, his surviving relatives and the possibility of rehabilitation would not, in our opinion, justify the courts to impose a sentence of life imprisonment on the facts and circumstances of this case. Hence, we have no hesitation in agreeing with the findings of the courts below and coming to the conclusion that the case in hand is a rarest of the rare case involving abrutal murder without provocation, hence, we find no reason whatsoever to interfere even with the quantum of punishment awarded by the courts below.