The Story as I recollect
It was early morning about 3 am. The father and his 5 year old son were sleeping on terrace. His wife and four daughters were sleeping on ground floor.
Suddenly, the man stood up and went downstairs. The day before, he had purchased 5 littler kerosene. He picked up the can, poured kerosene on four sleeping daughters and his wife. And set them on fire.
You can imagine rest.
At 8 Am, the man went to police station and told police what he had done.
He said, he was a poor banana seller. Somehow, he collected few rupees. He took loan at very big interest and purchased a house for the family.
Since last one year, his wife and his daughters were nagging him daily.
They did not like the area in which he had purchased house.
They were daily nagging him and pressurising him to sell this house and to buy a house in a decent area.
It was beyond his means to do this. Being fed up with daily nagging, he burnt them.
The Case
The court gave a free lawyer to defend him. The lawyer denied that his client had committed any crime.
There were no eye witnesses. There was no evidence against him except that he had gone to purchase kerosene one day before. This could be as well a case of accidental fire.
But it was open and shut case.
The parts of burnt bed sheets and other things pointed out that this was no accident.
The Judgement
This was a "rarest of rare crime" falling in categories defined by Supreme Court. To give death sentence was mandatory in such case.
High Court
High Court confirmed death sentence.
Supreme Court
His lady lawyer in High Court called me and asked me if I could help.
Since he was poor, and since there was a chance of me becoming famous if I can get acquittal, I filed his appeal at my expanses.
The Ground
Among the many other points, I raised a point that this case should not fall in rarest of rare crime, because he had saved life of his 5 year old son who was sleeping with him on terrace.
Stay on Death Sentence
Normally, there is procedure that as soon as any appeal against any death sentence is filed, intimation goes to Jailor and death sentence is automatically stayed.
Requesting a Top Criminal Lawyer
At that time, I was new in Supreme Court. I did not want my client to suffer because of my shortcomings if any. I requested an India's top criminal lawyer to see if he can argue this matter for free. He agreed.
Verdict of Supreme Court Judges
I still remember the presiding judge Justice Doraiswamy. He was touched.
He must have been knowing how poor live hand to mouth. Here the man was selling Banana in cart and was trying to survive in a heartless society of the poor.
He reached to conclusion that this was not rarest of rare case and converted death sentence into life imprisionment.
I do not much remember about this case. But I have faint memory that the name of accused was most probably "Bhagwan".
The Supreme Court saved Bhagwan from death sentence.
CRIMINOLOGY
The law provides that punishment for murder is either Death or Life Imprisionment. But it does not say when to give death sentence and when to give life imprisionment.
So the Judges have evolved principle that Death only in rarest of rare case.
But these are not hard and fast rules. Law is evolving to meet challenges of new categories of crimes.
Haresh Raichura
