Abstract
The judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Mohd. Firoz vs. State of Madhya Pradesh deals with the eternal dilemma between deterrence and reformation. The case concerns the heinous crime of rape and murder of a minor girl, raising substantial legal questions about the appropriateness of capital punishment. The court, whilst considering the final judgement, ensured to discuss the nuanced aspects of the inalienable rights of the accused, the significance of mitigating factors and their impact on the final judgement. This ruling is based on various doctrines laid by landmark precedents, setting a blueprint for further cases on capital punishment.
The present research aims to provide a critical perspective on the court’s continuous approach of commuting death sentences into life imprisonments upon identifying even a minute probability of rehabilitation of the criminal and not considering the case under the rarest of rare doctrines.
Introduction
This article takes the Supreme Court of India’s judgement in Mohd. Firoz vs. State of Madhya Pradesh[1] (herein referred to as ‘Mohd. Firoz case’) as an appeal under section 415 of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The case revolves around the tragic rape and murder of a minor girl, leading to the conviction and death sentence of the primary accused.
On April 17 2013, Rakesh Choudhary, accompanied by an unknown man, visited the victim’s and requested her mother, Ramakumari, to accommodate the unknown man at their house for a day. Upon her refusal, the unknown man remained in the courtyard of their house. A while later, Ramakumari noticed that the victim and the victim’s brother were missing, along with the unidentified man.
Subsequently, the victim’s brother returned home and informed his family that the accused had taken the victim with him and had handed the boy some bananas, instructing him to return home. Concerned for the safety of the victim, the family members of the victim promptly went to the police station to lodge a missing complaint.
The following morning, villagers found an unconscious little girl in one of the farms with blood oozing out of her mouth and nostrils. They consequently informed the victim’s uncle about it, and he confirmed the identity of the body as the victim. She was once taken to a hospital for medical treatment; however, she unfortunately succumbed to her injuries. The final medical report concluded that the cause of death was ‘bronchopneumonia and cerebral hypoxia, caused by the smothering of the nose and mouth’.
Upon investigation, it was established that the unknown man was Firoz Khan, who had deceitfully lured the victim, leading him to be charged with sections 363, 366, 376(2)(i), 376(2)(m), and 302 of Indian Penal Code and under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from the Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as the POCSO Act).
The Sessions Court at Seoni, after appreciating the evidence on record convicted both the Accused for the offences charged against them and awarded death sentence to Firoz Khan for the offence Under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code. The death sentence was later upheld by the High Court; however, the second accused, i.e. Rakesh Choudhary, was acquitted due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
[1]Mohd. Firoz v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 2022 SC 1967
