The Chhattisgarh High Court has commuted the death sentence awarded to a 25-year-old man convicted in a kidnapping, rape and murder case from Janjgir-Champa district, holding that though the prosecution proved the offences beyond reasonable doubt, the case did not satisfy the constitutional threshold required for imposition of capital punishment. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal upheld the conviction of Shankar Nishad of village Sukhda in Sakti district under Sections 364, 376 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but modified the sentence awarded by the Trial Court. The Bench directed that the convict would undergo imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life without remission, subject to constitutional powers of clemency.

 

According to prosecution records, the victim, employed as a peon in the Family Court at Bemetara, left her village Khairmuda on August 14, 2022 on a scooter after informing family members she was travelling to Bemetara. When she failed to reach, her father lodged a missing person report at Dabhra police station. Investigation revealed that the accused, who was acquainted with the victim, was captured in CCTV footage travelling with her towards Palgada 27 of the Indian Evidence Act. Post-mortem examination confirmed homicidal death by ligature strangulation along with injuries consistent with forcible restraint and sexual assault. The prosecution examined 19 witnesses and produced 48 exhibits. The High Court held that the chain of circumstantial evidence including CCTV footage, call detail records, medical findings and recovery evidence conclusively established guilt. However, while examining the sentence, the Bench observed that the Trial Court failed to properly balance aggravating and mitigating circumstances as required under settled principles governing death penalty jurisprudence. The court noted absence of material establishing irreformability or continuing danger to society and consequently rejected confirmation of the death sentence.