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Vijay Raikwar v. State of Madhya Pradesh

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 136Decided 5 Feb 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 1112 of 2015
Justice A.K. Sikri · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

The appellant was tried and convicted for raping and murdering a 7½-year-old girl, based on circumstantial evidence including that he was last seen with the victim, the victim's blood-stained frock and bedding were found at his house, and he could not explain this incriminating material. The trial court convicted him under Section 376(2)(f) and Section 201 IPC along with provisions of the POCSO Act and sentenced him to death; the Madhya Pradesh High Court confirmed both the conviction and the death sentence. The accused appealed to the Supreme Court against both the conviction and the sentence.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found the circumstantial evidence, the accused's failure to explain the blood-stained items found in his house, matching the victim's blood group, together with being last seen with her, sufficient to uphold the conviction, and rejected the defence's argument that the findings were perverse. On sentencing, however, the Court held that the case did not meet the "rarest of rare" threshold required for a death sentence, considering mitigating factors including the accused's young age (19 at the time of the offence), the absence of any prior criminal record or history as a professional killer, and his good conduct in jail. Applying the principles from Bachan Singh and other precedent, the Court confirmed the conviction but commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, disposing of the appeal accordingly.

Lesson Learnt

Even where a conviction for a brutal crime is upheld on strong evidence, the death penalty is reserved only for the narrow category of "rarest of rare" cases: courts must separately weigh mitigating factors like the offender's age, criminal history, and conduct before confirming a death sentence.

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

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