INDIA: GUJ HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF MAN WHO KILLED 5 OF FAMILY
February 24, 2014: Gujarat High Court has commuted the death sentence of a murder convict, who killed five members of a family in Dubai and fled to India, observing that he has already spent 22 years behind the bars.
"The convict has been in jail for 22 long years. Considering the situation, the court believes that death penalty is not appropriate for him. The death penalty has been commuted to life long imprisonment," a Division Bench of High Court said while changing the sentence. "As per the rulings of Supreme Court in recent cases, capital punishment can be commuted to the life term if the convict has been in jail for so many years," the Bench said.
Though the Bench has ruled out any remission in the sentence, it said, "Considering the circumstancial evidence, a case of murder is there and there shall not be a remission from life term."
"Earlier in 2011, special CBI court convicted Raoji Pawar in the murder case and awarded death penalty to him," said prosecution counsel Yogesh Rawani. In 1992, Pawar had killed five persons of one indian family in Dubai while he was working there as a house servant. (Sources: PTI, 24/02/2014)
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