Justice Debangsu Basak, Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi, Calcutta High Court
Not Extreme Brutality: Calcutta High Court Commutes Death Sentence Of Man Convicted For Killing Woman In A Hotel Room
|The Calcutta High Court reiterated that life imprisonment is a rule and death penalty is exception in awarding sentence in cases where death and life imprisonment are the prescribed punishments.
The Calcutta High Court has commuted the death sentence of a man who was convicted for allegedly killing a woman in a hotel room by strangulation.
The Court was deciding a Death Reference and an Appeal filed against the Judgment of conviction and the Order of sentence passed by the Additional Sessions Judge.
A Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi observed, “In the case at hand, as noted above, the appellant is aged about 33 years. Nothing of unfavourable behavior has been reported as against the appellant, which does not rule out the possibility of reform. The evidence on record does not suggest that murder of the victim was preplanned or committed with premeditation and extreme brutality. Rather the evidence on record shows that the appellant and the victim had visited and stayed together in the hotel on previous occasions as well. Such circumstances belie the existence of any previous enmity between them.”
The Bench reiterated that life imprisonment is a rule and death penalty is exception in awarding sentence in cases where death and life imprisonment are the prescribed punishments.
Advocate Soumik Ganguli represented the Appellant/Accused while Public Prosecutor (PP) Debasish Roy represented the Respondent/State.
Factual Background
A Manager of hotel (Complainant) lodged a written complaint with the police station stating that on April 11, 2018 at about 3:00 p.m. in the evening, two persons being the Appellant-accused and a woman (victim) checked in his hotel by producing copy of Voter Identity Card as identity proof. On the following day i.e., April 12, the room boy of the hotel informed the Complainant that the hotel room was closed from inside and no one was opening the same. The Complainant informed this to the police and on its arrival, the door of the room was broke open whereupon, it was discovered that the girl was lying dead on the bed and the boy was not there.
The window of the bathroom was found devoid of glasses. It was stated in the complaint that there was a thick black glass mark on the neck of the girl. According to the Complainant, the boy killed the lady by strangulation and fled away by removing the window glasses of the bathroom. Hence, an FIR was registered against the Appellant. The Trial Court convicted him for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and sentenced him to death penalty with a fine of Rs. 5,000/-. Challenging this, he was before the High Court.
Reasoning
The High Court in view of the facts and circumstances of the case, said, “We are not in position to return a finding that the appellant would be a menace to the society, if not awarded with death penalty.”
The Court was of the opinion that imprisonment for life would be sufficient punishment instead of death penalty.
“We are not minded to confirm the death sentence awarded by the learned Trial Court. We accordingly commute the death sentence, imposed upon the appellant, into one of life imprisonment”, it added.
The Court further ordered that the period of detention already undergone by the Appellant shall be set off against the substantive punishment in terms of the provisions contained in Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC).
“A copy of this judgment along with the Trial Court records be remitted to the appropriate Trial Court forthwith. In view of the commutation of the death penalty of Samar Patra, any warrant issued by the appropriate Court with regard thereto in respect of Samar Patra stands modified in terms of this judgment and order. Department will inform the Correctional Home, where the appellant is lodged, as to this judgment and order. The Correctional Home will record the fact of commutation of death penalty to the sentence awarded by this judgment and order in respect of Samar Patra, in their records”, it also directed.
Accordingly, the High Court disposed of the Death Reference and Appeal, and commuted the death sentence.
Cause Title- Samar Patra v. State of West Bengal (Case Number: DEATH REFERENCE NO. 01 OF 2023)
Appearance:
Appellant: Advocates Soumik Ganguli and Supriyo Shasmal.
Respondent: PP Debasish Roy, APP Rudradipta Nandy, and Advocate Santanu Talukdar.