Past conduct does not necessarily have to be taken into consideration while imposing death penalty

• Sections 302 and 149 IPC Arms Act Section 25 Murder Death sentence Criminal history of the convict by itself cannot be a ground for awarding him death penalty Past conduct does not necessarily have to be taken into consideration while imposing death penalty Present case is not a case wherein it can be held that imposition of death penalty is the only alternative Another reason that weighs with us is that from the evidence of the witnesses, it is clear that the role attributed to all the accused persons has been similar Evidence of witnesses would show that the role attributed is that all the accused persons including both the appellants herein had fired shots and indiscriminately indulged in the said firing At the cost of repetition, the role attributed in the evidence of the eye witnesses is identical to all the accused  High Court, on the basis of the same evidence, though confirmed the death penalty insofar as appellant is concerned, partly allowed the appeal of another appellant and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment A perusal of the judgment of the High Court would reveal that the only distinction drawn by the High Court between the cases of another appellant and appellant is the additional factor that appellant was already awarded life imprisonment in another case - Interest of justice would be met by converting death penalty into life imprisonment i.e. actual imprisonment for a period of 20 years without remission - However, death penalty imposed on him is converted into imprisonment for a fixed term of 20 years, including the period already undergone, without remission  Appeal partly allowed

MADAN vs STATE OF UP CRLA 1381/17 09/11/23 [ GAVAI JJ ] [ SUPREME COURT ]