Death penalty case: SC refers to 5-judge bench on framing guidelines on mitigating circumstances

In many death cases, an accused person is condemned to the gallows by the trial judge on the same day he or she is convicted of a crime.

The Supreme Court, in a judgment on September 19, 2022, referred to a Constitution Bench the question whether accused in death penalty cases should be given an opportunity to present mitigating circumstances in full and in detail before conviction by the trial court.

In many death cases, an accused person is condemned to the gallows by the trial judge on the same day he or she is convicted of a crime.

While the State is given an opportunity to present aggravating circumstances against the accused throughout the duration of a trial, the accused, on the other hand, is able to produce evidence showing mitigating circumstances in their favour, which may spare them the noose, only after their conviction, the court noted.

Referring the case to a five-judge Bench, a three-judge Bench of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit, S. Ravindra Bhat and Ajay Rastogi said the scales are tilted against the accused in a criminal trial which may lead to an irreversible consequence, namely, the death of the accused.

"The accused in such cases are placed at a hopeless disadvantage with evidently the scales tilted against them," Justice Bhat, who authored the verdict, said.

In many cases the sentence hearing is a quick formality to be gone through once the order of conviction is pronounced.

"The accused are scarcely accorded an opportunity to present mitigating circumstances," Justice Bhat said.