Case: State Of Rajasthan Vs. Kheraj Ram

murder by hired assassin for money or reward or a cold-blooded murder for gains of a person vis-a-vis whom the murders is in a dominating position or in a position of trust, or murder is committed in the course for betrayal of the motherland.(3) When murder of a member of a Scheduled Caste or minority community etc., is committed not for personal reasons but in circumstances which arouse social wrath, or in cases of bride burning or dowry deaths or when murder is committed in order to remarry for the sake of extracting dowry once again or to marry another woman on account of infatuation.(4) When the crime is enormous in proportion. For instance when multiple murders, say of all or almost all the members of a family or a large number of persons of a particular caste, community, or locality, are committed.(5) When the victim of murder is an innocent child, or a helpless woman or old or infirm person or a person vis-a-vis whom the murderer is in a dominating position or a public figure generally loved an respected by the community. 39. If upon taking an overall global view of all the circumstances in the light of the aforesaid propositions and taking into account the answers to the questions posed by way of the test for the rarest of rare cases, the circumstances of the case are such that death sentence is warranted, the court would proceed to do so. 40. A convict hovers between life and death when the question of gravity of the offence and award of adequate sentence comes up for consideration. Mankind has shifted from the state of nature towards a civilized society and it is no longer the physical opinion of the majority that takes away the liberty of a citizen by convicting him and making him suffer a sentence of imprisonment. Award of punishment following convicting at a trial in a system wedded to the rule of law is the outcome of cool deliberation in the court room after adequate hearing is afforded to the parties, accusations are brought against the accused, the prosecuted is given as opportunity of meeting the accusations by establishing his innocence. It is the outcome of cool deliberations and the screening of the material by the informed man i.e. the Judge that leads to determination of the lis. 41. The principle of proportion between crime and punishment is a principle of just desert that serves as the foundation of every criminal sentence that is justifiable. As a principle of criminal justice it is hardly less familiar or less important than the principle that only the guilty ought to be punished. Indeed, the requirement that punishment not be disproportionately great, which is a corollary of just desert, is dictated by the same principle that does not allow punishment of the innocent, for any punishment in excess of what is deserved for the criminal conduct is punishment without guilt. 42. The criminal law adheres in general to the principles of proportionately in prescribing liability according to the culpability of each kind of criminal conduct. It ordinarily allows some significant discretion to the Judge in arriving at a sentence in each case, presumably to permit sentences that reflect more subtle considerations of culpability that are raised by the special facts of each case. Judge in essence affirm that punishment ought always to fit the crime; yet in practice sentences are determined largely by other considerations. Sometimes it is the correctional needs of the perpetrator that are offered to justify a sentence. Sometimes the desirability of keeping him out of circulation, and sometimes even the traffic results of his crime. Inevitably these considerations cause a departure from just desert as the basis of punishment and create cases of apparent injustice that are serious and widespread. 43. Proportion between crime and punishment is a goal respected in principles, and in spite of errant notions, it remains a strong influence in the determination of sentences. The practice of punishing all serious crimes with equal severity is now unknown in civilized societies, but such a radical departure from the principle of proportionality has disappeared from the law only in recent times. Even now a single grave infraction that is thought to call for uniformly drastic measures. Anything less than a penalty of greatest severity for any serious crime is thought then to be a measure of toleration that is unwarranted and unwise. But in fact quite apart from those considerations that make punishment unjustifiable when it is out of proportion to the crime, uniformly disproportionate punishment has some very undesirable practical consequences. 44. The factual matrix as described by the prosecution and established by the evidence on record shows that the cruel and diabolic manner in which the killings were conceived and executed. The accused did not act on any spur of the moment provocation. It was deliberately planned and meticulously executed. There was not even any remorse for such gruesome act. On the contrary, after the killing the accused tried to divert attention and used PW-9 as the cats-paw. He went on taking diversive tactics to suit his purpose. The calmness with which he smoked chilam was an indication of the fact that the gruesome act did not even arouse any human touch in him. On the contrary, he was satisfied with what he had done. In a given case, a person having seen a ghastly crime may act in a different way. That itself in another case may not constitute a suspicious circumstance. But when the entire chain of events and circumstances are comprehended, the inevitable conclusion is that the accused acted in the most cruel and inhuman manner and the murder was committed in extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting and dastardly manner. The victims were two innocent children and a helpless woman. Taking note of these factors, the death sentence imposed by the Trial Court is most appropriate. The respondent shall surrender to custody forthwith and serve out the sentence.

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

Explanation:
1[ds]44. The factual matrix as described by the prosecution and established by the evidence on record shows that the cruel and diabolic manner in which the killings were conceived and executed. The accused did not act on any spur of the moment provocation. It was deliberately planned and meticulously executed. There was not even any remorse for such gruesome act. On the contrary, after the killing the accused tried to divert attention and used PW-9 as the cats-paw. He went on taking diversive tactics to suit his purpose. The calmness with which he smoked chilam was an indication of the fact that the gruesome act did not even arouse any human touch in him. On the contrary, he was satisfied with what he had done. In a given case, a person having seen a ghastly crime may act in a different way. That itself in another case may not constitute a suspicious circumstance. But when the entire chain of events and circumstances are comprehended, the inevitable conclusion is that the accused acted in the most cruel and inhuman manner and the murder was committed in extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting and dastardly manner. The victims were two innocent children and a helpless woman. Taking note of these factors, the death sentence imposed by the Trial Court is most appropriate. The respondent shall surrender to custody forthwith and serve out the sentence.