Do you know what keeps going on in mind of a Judge when he is giving death sentence to a convict?

I know a former Supreme Court Judge. He never gave death sentence to anyone. Probably he believed that "Human beings are inferior to God. The God has not given us power to give life to someone. So we legitimately we have no right are to take anyone's life."


On other hand, I have seen a Judge who thought that it was a pious duty of a Judge to give death to brutes who have taken lives of other innocent persons. He also gave a Death Sentence a lawyer who was practising in his own court.

All Judges are somewhere between these two views.


Law gives power to every judge, upward a District Judge, to award a Death Sentence to convicts.

The mind of a Judge works in two parts:

1) First, he is focused on only one issue. Is it proved that this man has committed crime beyond any reasonable doubt? Is the conviction in accordance with facts and law?

He checks and rechecks every single piece of evidence. Here, he probably does not think whether the man should be given Death or not. His sole attention is to decide whether the man has committed crime or not.

2) Once he decides that the man has committed a crime which is also punishable with death, then that issued is closed and locked in mind of Judge. He no more have to think further or to hear further on whether the man has committed crime or not.

Now he is solely focused on one issue - Should the man be given death sentence? Or should he be give jail term for life?

He asks lawyers of both sides to argue on this issue only as much as they want. The lawyers put one by one factors of case in mind of Judge. The Judge keeps listening with all the attention he can give.

Then his mind becomes "charged".

Something clicks in his mind. Some voice inside him strongly and clearly tells him whether death should be given or jail for life should be given.

To check this voice doubly, he thinks aloud. He lets lawyers know about direction in which his mind is going. He lets lawyers argue further till he becomes sure about his decision.

And then he passes order of Death sentence or of Jail for Life. During the process, his mind remains charged with facts of the case.

The Judge is least bothered about what media will say, or what TV debates will say etc. In fact, he keeps himself away from reading or viewing such debates, to keep his mind free from any prejudice.

He keeps himself focused only on what is being spoken in court and what is in case papers and he lets nothing else enter in his mind.



Haresh Raichura
2/12/13






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Once a retired judge was travelling in train. The person on next seat was father of a convict whom he had given death. #TrueStory

Once a retired judge was travelling in train. The person sitting on next seat was father of a convict whom he had given death.

He was earlier a District and Sessions Judge in a district in Uttar Pradesh.

After retirement he was practising as lawyer in Supreme Court. In train he used to daily commute to Delhi from his own town.

One day, he could not find place for sitting in the over crowded train. A man squeezed some space and offered him to sit.

After he sat down, that man said, "Sir, do you know me? I am the father of a person whom you had sentenced to death! "

The judge did not know how to respond.

The man further said,"It is good that you sentenced him to death. Otherwise relatives of victim would have killed him. But since you gave him death sentence, relatives of victim cooled down. Later he appealed to High Court and then to Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court commuted death sentence to life imprisionment and he is alive today because of you."

The man thanked judge.
The Judge relaxed.


Haresh Raichura
1/12/13




-(C) Copyright. It is permitted to share or retweet or like or to repost this blog material or to use for research with due acknowledgement. The articles written on this blog are with original thinking and copyright comes in as soon as they are written and published.

Remand means permission to keep accused in POLICE LOCK UP for purpose of investigation

Jail is a different thing. There an accused is kept under orders of judge, either before conviction or after conviction. There, the take carer is Jailor.

When accused is given on remand to police, it means that accused is allowed to be kept in custody of police investigating officer for purpose of investigation, questioning, for taking it to scene of crime for reminding him about the incident, for taking him to place where he may have hidden weapons of crime etc.


Remand is usually given for short time.


Haresh Raichura
1/12/13










-(C) Copyright. All the articles written on this blog are with original thinking and copyright comes in as soon as they are written and published. I have acknowledged source wherever I remembered. It is permitted to share or retweet or like or to repost this blog material or to quote from them acknowledging name of author. But recently I have noticed a CEO of a Company on LinkedIn who copied from my blog and published it in his own name. I also noticed someone in Ahmedabad doing same thing and publishing material from my blog on Facebook under his name. This is one thing no author would like to approve. On internet everything these people do has digital footprints which cannot be erased. Plagmarism or credit pouching is not a good thing to do. Cyber laws are new but they are in force.