LegalAware
LegalAware.ai
EMPOWERING LEGAL AWARENESS

Mofil Khan v. The State of Jharkhand

Review Petition (Criminal) · 2021 INSC 791Decided 26 Nov 2021
Review Petition (Criminal) No. 641 of 2015
Justice L. Nageswara Rao · Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice B.V. Nagarathna

Background

The petitioners were convicted of brutally murdering eight members of their own extended family, including a brother and his wife and four young children, over a property dispute, and were sentenced to death. Their conviction and death sentence were upheld by the Jharkhand High Court and then by the Supreme Court itself in 2014. The petitioners filed this review petition under Article 137 of the Constitution, which, per earlier Supreme Court precedent, must be heard in open court by a three-judge bench when a death sentence is involved.

Decision Breakdown

A review petition has a very limited scope: it can only succeed if there is an "error apparent on the face of the record," not merely a different possible view of the evidence. The Court found that while its earlier judgment contained a factual slip (relying on a charge the petitioners had actually been acquitted of), this was not significant enough to reopen the conviction itself. However, on the question of sentence, the Court found a genuine gap: neither the trial court, the High Court, nor the Supreme Court's own earlier judgment had properly considered the possibility of the petitioners' reform and rehabilitation, a mandatory consideration before imposing death, and the State had never presented evidence that reform was impossible. Considering the petitioners' clean prior record, their family's continued support, and good conduct during 14 years in custody, the Court converted their death sentences to a fixed term of 30 years' imprisonment.

Lesson Learnt

Even after a death sentence has been confirmed by the Supreme Court, it can later be revisited through a review petition if the courts failed to properly weigh the convict's potential for reform and rehabilitation: a factor the law requires to be seriously considered before anyone is sentenced to death, and which the State must affirmatively disprove.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

More rulings in Criminal Law

Criminal LawSupreme Court of India

Charming Rupon v. State of Meghalaya

The Supreme Court acquitted the accused, finding the prosecution's case riddled with serious doubt. Both the victim and her cousin (a key witness) admitted in cross-examination that they could not identify the accused and that his name had been supplied to them by the victim's mother, raising a strong suspicion of tutoring, especially since the victim admitted she had been coached by the public prosecutor before testifying. The mother's own conduct (not reacting urgently despite being told of the assault, and material facts missing from the belated FIR) was found "unnatural." A crucial witness, the school teacher whose disclosure triggered the FIR, was never examined, without explanation, warranting an adverse inference against the prosecution. The Court also noted that two medical witnesses were never meaningfully cross-examined because the defence counsel was absent on the relevant dates, and that the trial court had wrongly brushed aside credible alibi evidence led by the accused.

Decided 9 Oct 2026Read case
Criminal LawSupreme Court of India

Ramkrushna Prahllad Dongardive v. The State of Maharashtra

The Supreme Court restored the trial court's acquittal. It found that the prosecution never produced the original cashbooks, daily registers, or audit reports that would have actually proven the appellant was entrusted with and misappropriated the money: the investigating officer himself admitted these documents were never shown to him despite being asked for. The department also failed to produce records the appellant had specifically sought in his own defence. Separately, the search and seizure of documents from the appellant's house was legally doubtful, since both independent witnesses to the seizure turned hostile and denied knowing its contents, and the mandatory procedural safeguards for such a seizure were not followed. The Court also flagged that the High Court convicted the appellant for the very first time on appeal without ever hearing him on the question of sentence, which the law required it to do.

Decided 8 Oct 2026Read case
Criminal LawDelhi High Court

Gurpreet Singh vs. State (NCT of Delhi)

The Court accepted that the order recalling the proclaimed offender status be placed on record. Noting that the complainant was untraceable and the prosecution itself raised no serious objection to anticipatory bail, the Court found no reason to deny the applicant liberty. It granted anticipatory bail, directing release on a personal bond of Rs. 20,000 with one surety in the event of arrest.

Decided 7 Oct 2026Read case
Criminal LawDelhi High Court

Mukesh Rani vs. Narcotics Control Bureau

The Court noted the investigation was complete, the chargesheet was filed, the co-accused had already been granted bail, and the combined quantity recovered (1.976 kg) still fell short of the "commercial quantity" threshold under the NDPS Act. With ten witnesses yet to be examined and no indication the trial would conclude quickly, the Court found continued detention unnecessary and granted regular bail on a personal bond of Rs. 50,000 with standard conditions.

Decided 7 Oct 2026Read case
Criminal LawDelhi High Court

Aakash vs. State Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Anr.

The Court noted that all prosecution witnesses, including the complainant and the guest house manager, had already been examined, and that a co-accused in the same FIR had already been granted bail. Given the complainant's own testimony about voluntary association with the petitioner and the completed trial evidence, the Court found the overall facts favoured bail. It granted regular bail on a personal bond of Rs. 50,000 with standard conditions (reporting to police weekly, not influencing witnesses, providing address/mobile details).

Decided 7 Oct 2026Read case
Criminal LawDelhi High Court

Kundan Kumar vs. State NCT of Delhi & Anr.

The Court relied on earlier Delhi High Court rulings holding that whether a broken promise of marriage was "false" from the outset (criminal) or a mere "breach" (not criminal) is a question for trial, not something requiring custodial interrogation. Noting the investigation was complete and the applicant had no prior criminal record, the Court granted regular bail on a personal bond of Rs. 25,000 with conditions, clarifying the order was not an opinion on the merits.

Decided 7 Oct 2026Read case