Holding

The conviction under Section 302 IPC stands, but the death sentence is not justified as the case does not meet the "rarest of rare" criteria, and it is commuted to life imprisonment.

Summary

The appellant Sushil Kumar was convicted of murdering his wife and two young children and was sentenced to death. The prosecution proved the murders through eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence, and the appellant's own disclosure memo, while the alibi he claimed was rejected as contradictory. The Supreme Court examined the reliability of the witnesses, the credibility of the alibi, and whether the case qualified as "rarest of rare" for capital punishment. It found that the evidence against the appellant was solid, but the mitigating circumstances—extreme poverty, unemployment, lack of prior criminal record, and potential for reform—precluded the death penalty. Consequently, the Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment. The conviction under Section 302 IPC was upheld, and the appeal was partly allowed.

Issues considered

Whether the evidence presented establishes the appellant's guilt beyond reasonable doubt under Section 302 IPC.
Whether the appellant's alibi claim is credible and can be sustained.
Whether the death sentence is justified or the case falls within the "rarest of rare" doctrine.
Whether the witnesses' testimonies are reliable and free from bias.

Legislation cited

Subjects

murderdeath penaltyrarest of rare doctrinelife imprisonmentalibiwitness credibilitymitigating circumstancesIPC s.302

Judgment

[2009] 13 (AOOL.) $.C.R. 1082

A SUSHIL KUMAR J..- ,
v.
'
STATE OF PUNJAB
(Criminal Appeal No.670 of 2009)
SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
B
[V.S. SIRPURKAR AND DEEPAK VERMA, JJ.]
¥
Penal Code, 1860: s.302 - Murder - Accused allegedly '·~

c
murdered his wife and children and thereafter got himself
admitted in hospital - Evidence of prosecution witnessesiiJ --
~
conformity with each other - No doubt about the credibility of
witnesses - Prosecution witnesses having cordial relations with
the accused hence case of false implication not made out -
Plea of alibi taken by accused not found to be truthful -
0 Prosecution able to establish case· against him - Death -..It
sentence awarded by courts below however altered to life •
impris01:iment as accused was not a habitual offender -
Sentence/Sentencing.

·Prosecution case was that on the fateful day, PW-2
E
brother of deceased received call from appellant at 6 a.m.
The appellant ·informed PW-2 that he was admitted in
hospital and asked PW-2 to visit his house to see well i
being of his family. Thereafter appellant disconnected the
phone. When PW-2 reached house of appellant, he found
F wife and children of appellant dead. PW-2 again received "
call from appellant at 6.45 a.m. PW-2. enquired from hirn
about the incident but appellant again snapped the ~>

phone. PW-2 later came to know that appellant had '
consumed 'sulphas tablets' and got himself admitted in
G hosplt~I. During interrogation, appellant made a
disclosure memo. Pursuant thereto, a blood stained knife 'r-
;.--...
allegedly used for commission of offence was .recovered ·
at his instance·. The trial court rejected the plea of alibi
·. raised by appellant on account of serious contradiction
H 1082
SUSHIL KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB 1083

--...l . in his statement and convicted him u/s.302 IPC and A
passed death sentence, which was affirmed by High
- Court. Hence the present appeal.

Partly allowing the appeal, the Court

HELD: 1. Microscopic examination of the evidence of B
PW-5, the mother of deceased and that of PW•2 would
show that they were in conformity with each other. The
~ \ evidence of PW-2 was in line with F.l.R. and his statement
given to the police. Apart from minor discrepancies which
are bound to appear in a natural course of conduct of a C
normal human being, there were no serious material

. discrepancies in the evidence in order to completely
discard their evidence. There is no reason to doubt the
credibility of all these witnesses. There is no reason why
~ they would falsely try to implicate the appellant. Nothing D
' .
was shown on record that these witnesses were having
strained relations with the appellant. On the other hand,
it was clearly made out from the evidence that they were
having cordial relations and were visiting each other quite
often. [Paras 27 and 29] [1094-8-E] E
2. It is manifest from the evidence that the appellant
t had got himself admitted in Civil Hospital on 4.3.2005 and
was under treatment. According to the doctor.PW-10, the
• appellant was admitted on 4.2.2005 at about 6.30 a.m. and
was discharged on 7.3.2005. The doctor was not able to F
conclusively say that any Sulphas tablet was taken by the
appellant or not.· He deposed that after taking tablets, it
is difficult to survive for a long period. Appellant did not
offer any explanation as to where was he before his
admission in the hospital on the fateful day. Plea of alibi G
taken by him was not found to be truthful as the same
..,.."{ stood falsified from the evidence of PW-4 who had seen
him coming out of his own house at 5.00 a.m. This was
only indicative of the fact that after commission of the
H
1084 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009)-13 (ADDL.) S.C.R.

A alleged crime, he got himself admitted in the Civil
Hospital. It is certain that he had committed the crime - " )..,_
sometime in night,and then got himself admitted in the
hospital at 6.30 a.m. Looking to the totality of the facts and
features of the case and keeping in view the evidence
B available on record, there is no doubt that the offence .r
was committed by the appellant only. [Paras 30-32 and
36] [1094-F-H; 1095-A-B; 1096-0-E]
~-
Bachan Singh v. State of.Punjab and others (1980) 2 J --<
684; Machhi Singh & Ors_. v. State of Punjab (1983) 3
c SCC
SCC 470; Om Prakash v. State of Haryana (1999) 3 SCC 19;
Bablu @ Mubaraik Hussain v. State of Rajasthan (-2006) 13
SCC 116; State of Uttar Pradesh v. Sattan alias Satyendra
& Ors: (2009) 4 SCC 736 ; Santosh Kumar Satish Bhushan
Boriyar etc. v. State of Maharashtra etc. (2009) 6 SCC 498,
D referred to.
'*" I
3. In ~he case in hand, weighing the ·mitigating
circumstances the following facts were manifest: (i) .;.,

appellant was unemployed for last 7 to 8 months (ii) he
E used to borrow money from others to meet his daily
needs; (iii) he himself consumed 'sulphas tablets' to
commit suicide even though not medically established;
(iv) he therefore, was keen that his whole family should
be finished and no one should be alive to suffer the pain -;-
F and agony alone; (v) he was fed up with his life and was -\

_ seen in a perplexed condition by PW-4; (vi) in any case,
he cannot be a threat to the society and there are fairly
good chances of his reformation as he has learnt
sufficient lesson from it. Extreme p.overty drove the
appellant to commit the gruesome murder of three of his
G
very near and dear family members. There is nothing on
record to show that appellant is a habitual offender. He
':r-
appears to be a peace loving, law abiding citizen but as )-)>

he was poverty stricken, he thought in his wisdom to
completely eliminate his family so that all problems would
H ·---.
I
SUSHIL KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB 1085

come to an end. Precisely, this appeared to be the reason
-,,A, A
for him to consume some poisonous substances, after
committing the offence of murder. No witness
complained about his bad or intolerable behaviour in the
past Many people visited his house after the incident is
indicative of the fact that he had cordial relations with all. B
He Is now about 35 years of age and there appear to be
fairly good chances of the appellant getting reformed and
l becoming a good citizen. Thus, looking to the matter from
' ' all angles_ and after giving serious consideration to the
whole matter that it is not a fit case where it would fall c
within the category of "rarest of rare case" and therefore
death sentence as awarded to him by trial Judge and
confirmed by High C~urt is quashed and he is awarded
life imprisonment. [Paras 43 and 46] (1099-D-H; 1100-A-
~ ~ - D
\ Case Law Reference~

- (1980) 2 sec 684
(1983) 3 sec 470
referred to
referred to
Para 39
Para 40
E
(1999) 3 sec 19 i,eferred to Para 40
(2006) 13 sec 116 referred to Para 41
-t
(2009) 4 sec 736 referred to Para 41
>
(2009) 6 sec 498 referred to Para 42 F

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
No. 670 of 2009.

From the Judgment & Order dated 30.5.2008 of the High G
Court of Punjab and Harayana at Chandigarh in Murder
~---,Reference No. 3 of 2007.
... '
Rishi Malhotra for the Appellant.
Kuldip Singh, R.K. Pandey and T.P. Mishra for the H
1086 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 13 (ADDL.) S.C.R.

A Respondent.
. )....-
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by .

DEEPAK VERMA, J. 1. Life or death is the question
involved in this appeal. Sole appellant Sushil Kumar alias Lucky
B has been awarded death sentence in Sessions Case No. 70 >

of 2006, by Additional Sessions Judge, Jalandhar vide
judgment and order dated 13/17.4.2007 holding him guilty of
commission of offence under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code f
(for short 'l.P.C.') on three counts, i.e., for committin~ murder, ' ·-<
c of his wife Pooja, son Jatin (6 years) and daughter Sofia (4
years). However, he was acquitted of the offence pynishable
under Section 309, IPC. Feeling aggrieved thereof, appellant
preferred Criminal Appeal No. 447-DB of 2007 in the High
Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh and as required
(
D under law, Death Reference under Section 366 of the Code of
-{
Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short 'Cr.P.C.') was sent for
confirmation to the High Court by the learned Additional ~

Sessions Judge vide Murder Reference No. 3 of 2007.
'
2. Vide impugned judgment and order pronounced on
E
30.5.2008 by Division Bench of the High Court, Murder
Reference No. 3 of 2007 has been answered against the
appellant and capital punishment awarded to the appellant
stands affirmed, as a necessary consequence thereof, Criminal +
Appeal No. 447-DB of 2007 filed by appellant stands
F dismissed. Hence, this appeal, but only against Murder ~

Reference and not against the dismissal of his Criminal Appeal
on merits. In other words, he is challenging only the capital
punishment awarded to him and not the conviction under
Section.302 IPC.
G
3. The genesis of the prosecution· story was set at motion
on the strength of telephonic information given to Police Station,
Division No.5, Jalandhar on 4.3.2005 by Mr. Ram Lal, :r")-
Councillor of Bas ti Danishmandan ·about the incident, which
H triggered off the police in action. S.I. Onkar Singh (PW-11),
SUSHIL KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB 1087
[DEEPAK VERMA, J.]

Investigating Officer, reached the place of occurrence alongwith A
~ other police personnel, where he found Sukhdev Kumar (PW..
2), brother of deceased Pooja, who gave details of the .
unfortunate incident. The information, as narrated by him, to PW--
11, 1.0. is mentioned hereinbelow:
8
4. (i) His younger sister Pooja @ Ashma was married to
appellant Sushil Kumar about seven years back. They were'
blessed with two children: a son, Jatin @ Babu, aged six years
-+
r \
and a daughter, Sofia, aged four years. They had been residing
in a rented accommodation of Pawan Kumar.
c
(ii) Earlier, appellant Sushil Kumar was working in a shop
of Babbu of Kishanpura but for the fast about 7-8 months he
was unemployed and was thus passing through great financial ,
difficulties. He was borrowing money from others to meet his
daily needs. D
y
(iii) Just two days prior to the incident, i.e. on 2.3.2005, at

... about 1.30 p.m. PW-2 Sukhdev had visited their house to
enquire about their welfare and at that time had noticed a minor
scuffle between his sister and her husband, the present
appellant. He tried to intervene and advised them to live
E
peacefully and amicably.

(iv) On 4.3.2005 at about 6.30 in the morning PW-2
+
.. Sukhdev received a telephonic call from appellant informing him
that he has been admitted in the hospital and he requested
Sukhdev to visit his house to enquire about the welfare of his
wife and children, who were alone at home. He further asked
F

him to enter the house by climbing its wall. When Sukhdev
... enquired from the appellant if there had been any
unpleasantness between the two, he was told to first visit his G
house, then to inform him and abruptly snapped the phone.

:~- ~ (v) Sensing foul-play, Sukhdev rushed to the house of his
sister and entered through the gate. He then saw the dead
bodies of his sister Pooja, her son Jatin and daughter Sofia
H
ll

'*
1088 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 13 (ADDL.) S.C.R.

A lying on bed. It appeared that they were strangulated to death ).._.-
with the aid of plastic rope which was lying on the bed. Both "'.

hands of son Jatin were tied and all of them had also sustained
incised wounds.

(vi) While Sukhdev was still hovering under a great shock
B
and agony, he received yet another phone call from appellant
at about 6.45 a.m. Sukhdev enquired from the appellant as to
what he has done and also requested him to reach home at t-...
the earliest but appellant once again snapped the phone. {

c (vii) Later on Sukhdev came to know that appellant had
also consumed 'Sulphas tablets' and got himself admitted in
Civil Hospital at Jalandhar. Sukhdev appeared to be confident
that appellant has done away with his wife Pooja, son Jatin and
daughter Sofia by strangulating their necks and by inflicting
D injuries on their persons and thereafter allegedly consumed ~
'Sulphas tablets' as he was poverty stricken.

5. On the strength of the aforesaid statement having been ..,.
recorded by P.W-11, Onkar Singh (1.0.) marked as Exh. PD/
1, endorsement was made by him, which was sent to the Police
E
Station for recording formal First Information Report, marked
Exh. PD/2. He thereaftPr c'Jnducted inquest proceedings of
dead bodies and removed them to Civil Hospital, .Jalandhar,
for post-mortem examination. +
F 6. Dr. S.K. Sharma (PW-1) conducted post-mortem on all
the three dead bodies. As is clear from the impugned judgment,
Pooja had sustained as many as seven injuries including
~

- +-

incised wounds and multiple abrasions on her body, Jatin @
Babbu had sustained single incised injury on his chest and <.,---

G Sofia had sustained six incised wounds on her body. The cause
of death of all the three persons according to Dr. Sharma was
shock and haemorrhage. Yr-,
. )-
,
7. It is pertinent to mention here that doctor had specifically
mentioned in all the post-mortem reports that probable time
H )

\po
SUSHIL KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB 1089
[DEEPAK VERMA, J.]

elapsed between injury and death within few minutes and A
-..4
between death and postmortem within 24 hours.

8. It has neither been disputed before us nor it was
disputed in the High Court that they all had met with homicidal
deaths. Thus, the question that arises before us is, whether the 8
same has been committed by the appellant and if yes, what ·
sentence would be just and appropriate to be awarded to him,
~·
keeping in mind the enormity and dastardly manner in which
t \ they were murdered.

9. The Investigating Officer (PW-11) took possession of c
blood stained bed sheet and pillows vide recovery memo (Ex.
PH. Plastic rope allegedly used for strangulation of the
deceased was also taken into p.ossession by a separate
~ recovery memo. During the course of investigation, statements
1' of witnesses were recorded and a rough site plan of scene of D
occurrenc~ with correct marginal notes was prepared.

- 10. Accused was arrested on 7.3.2005. During
interrogation, appellant made a disclosure Memo (Ex.PE) and
pursuant thereto, a blood-stained knife (Chhura) (Ex.P/5)
E
allegedly used for commission of the offence was recovered
from the place shown by him i.e. under some clothes in the
same room where dead bodies were found.
-t
11. On completion of the investigation, challan was filed
.. ;.
against the appellant. Learned Addi. Sessions Judge framed
charges against the appellant under Section 302 IPC for
F

murder of his wife, son and daughter and also under Section
309 of the IPC for his attempted suicide. Subsequently, charges
were amended to three separate charges on account of three
murders having been committed by the appellant in one G
incident. Appellant pleaded not guilty and prayed to be tried .
...,.
<,
12. To bring home the charges against the appellant,
evidence of Sukhdev (PW-2) brother of deceased and
complainant, Raj Kumar (PW-3), who had received information
H
•

1090 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 13 (ADDL.) S.C.R.

A about murder of wife and children of the accused from his )..__
landlord, Satpal (PW-4) appellant's neighbour, who had seen .,
him last at 5.00 a.m. coming out from his house and Pushpa
(PW-5) mother of deceased Pooja, was recorded at the
instance of prosecution, which we would scan deeply later. Apart
B from the aforesaid witnesses, prosecution had examined Dr.
S.K. Sharma (PW-1), who had performed the post-mortem on
the bodies of deceased, (P.W-10) Dr. Kamaljit Singh Bawa,
Medical Specialist, Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, Onkar Singh, +-
f ~
Investigating Officer (PW-11) and other formal witnesses to
c prove the seizure memos, disclosure memos etc.

13. The appellant had taken a plea of alibi that on the
fateful day, he was not in Jalandhar and had gone to Amritsar
to complete the work of his employer. Since he was delayed
at Amritsar, he decided to stay back with his maternal uncle. •
D To prove the plea of alibi, he examined Dharam Pal (DW-1) ~
as a defence witness. However, learned Trial Judge as also 1

High Court have not found the plea of alibi established, on
account of serious contradictions in the statement of appellant +-
recorded under Section 313 of Cr.P.C and that of his defence·
E witness DW-1.

14. In the light of..the aforesaid backdrop of the factual
aspect as has ~een unfolded, we have to see whether it is a fit
case for confirming the death sentence on the appellant or to
+
•
F award him some other punishment.
15. At the cost of repetition we reiterate that this appeal
-
has been preferred only against Murder Reference No. 3 of
2007 as is manifest from the memo of appeal. Thus, initially
finding it difficult to challenge the conviction and sentence under
.
G Section 302 IPC awarded to appellant, learned counsel for
appellant advanced arguments only on the question of quantum
of sentence but later on prayed for leave of this Court to permit r--p
him to argue'both on the question of conviction and sentence.
With an intention to do complete justice between the parties,
H we granted him permission.
SUSHIL KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB 1091
[DEEPAK VERMA, J.]

-.l 16. Accordingly, YJe have heard Mr. Rishi Malhotra, learned A
counsel appearing for appellant and Mr. Kuldip Singh, learned
counsel appearing for the respondent-State at great length and
have perused the record.

17. Learned counsel for the appellant has seriously and
B
sincerely attempted to convince us that in the light of several
serious discrepancies appearing in the evidence of Sukhdev
~ (PW-2) brother of deceased Pooja, Raj Kumar (PW-3) and
t I
Satpal (PW-4), who had last seen the accused coming out of
his house in the morning at 5.00 a.m. and Pushpa (PW-5)-
mother of the deceased, it was a case for acquittal or in the c
light of said discrepancies at least benefit of doubt should be
extended to the appellant. It was also contended by him that
substantial part of evidence of Rajkumar (PW-3) was hit by
y
Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
D
\ 18. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent-
State Mr. Kuldip Singh, vehemently urged before us that it is a
fool-proof case and prosecution has proved beyond shadow
of doubt that it was the appellant alone who committed the
crime. Thus, it calls for no interference. He also contended that E
looking to the brutality and dastardly commission of crime by
appellant, he does not deserve to be dealt with leniently. It was
+- also contended by him that to send a proper signal to the
society and as a matter deterrence, capital punishment alone
... as awarded by learned Trial Judge and confirmed by High F
Court, would meet the ends of justice.

19. Even though in this appeal, we are not legally obliged
to look into or to critically re-appreciate the evidence available
on record but with the intention to examine if justice has been
meted out to him or not, we have gone through the entire G
...-., evidence.

20. Now, we shall deal with material evidence which is
necessary to be considered in this appeal. First, in this line is
the evidence of Sukhdev (PW-2)complainant and brother of the H
1092 SUPREME COURT REPORTS {2009) 13 (ADDL.) S.C.R.

A deceased. He has deposed that the deceased was his younger
sister, having married to appellant about seven years back.
They were blessed with two children, Jatin aged six years and
daughter Sofia aged four years. Earlier, they were living in
Amritsar but had shi.fted to Jalandhar some time back. In
B Jalandhar, earlier they were living in a rented house. of Sadri
but then shifted to Basti Danishmandan close to the residence
of this witness, who was living along with his mother (PW-5)
Smt. Pushpa. Earlier the appellant was working in a shop but I 1
about seven to eight months back he lost his job, thus was·
c rendered jobless. -

21. He has then deposed that on 4.3.2005 at about 6.30
a.m. he had received a telephonic call from accused Sushil
Kumar asking him to go to his house to see Pooja and her
.. children, after climbing the wall. He further informed him that he
D is talking to him from Civil Hospital, where he has been
. I
admitted. Sukndev (PW-2) made enquiries if there had been
any differences witp,....Pooja the previous night, to which he
answered that he should first go and see wife and children
thereafter to talk to him. He then abruptly snapped the phone.
E He has further deposed that he immediately rushed to his
sister's house and found the door open. He entered their bed
room and was shocked to see dead bodies of his sister,
nephew and niece lying on the bed. Hands of Jatin were tied +
behind his back and they had also sustained bodily injuries. A
F plastic rope was also lying on the bed, which gave an indication
that the same might have been used for strangulating them.

22. At about 6.45 a.m. he received another call from the
accused, who once again enquired about his wife and children.
G He informed him about dead bodies lying on the bed and
enquired as to what he has done, to which he once again
abruptly snapped the phone. '! ~\.
23. This witness thereafter gave details of the incident to
SI. Onkar Singh (PW-11 ), who as mentioned hereinabove, after
H recording it sent it to the Police Station for formal registration
SUSHIL KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB 1093
[DEEPAK VERMA, J.]
_,,. of the FIR. Even though he was cross-examined at length but A
' noth!ng came in. the same to discard his evidence.
"1
24. Rajkumar (PW-3) has also deposed that on receiving
the information about the murders having taken place, he visited
the house of the appellant who is known.to him and found three ,9
dead bodies. He also gave information to the police, which
reached the spot shortly. He has deposed that accused was
~
not present in the house. The clothes of dead bodies were
~ ' blood-stained. He was also a witness to disclosure statement
of ~he accused. The other evidence given by him would neither
,C
be relevant nor can be considered, in the light of the provisions
contained in Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act.
25. The other material witness is Satpal1PW-4), who stays
... close to the house of the appellant and is well acquainted with
y him. He has deposed that on 4.3.2005 at 5.00 a.m ~ile he D
was going for morning walk and when he crossed the house
" of appellant, he saw him coming out from his house. He was
called from behind, he stopped for a while but was in a
perplexed condition and after stopping for a while the accused
moved ahead. Thereafter at about 6.45 a.m. he came to know E
about the murder of the wife and two children of the accused.
Recovery of rope, bed sheet, pillows staine~ with blood was
_... completed in his presence. He is a witness to the memo
Ex.PH. Thus, this witness is important as he had last seen" the
• appellant coming out from his house, to which no explanation F
has been offered by the appellant.

26. The last material evidence to connect the appellant with
the commission of crime is of Pushpa (PW-5)-mother-in-law of
the appellant. She has also deposed in great details with I

regard to the strained relations between appellant and his wife F

. l ·,
on account of financial problems. She has further deposed as
to how the phone call was received on 4.3.2005 at 6.30 a.m.
by her son .Sukhd.ev from the accused. She hps further deposed
that on 2.3.2005, on receiving a phone from Pooja, she had
sent her son to their house, who later on informed that they were H
-
1094 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 13 (ADDL.) S.C.R.

A fighting, obviously on account of financial difficulties and on his 1.- '
intervention, the dispute was settled. s---
~
27. Microscopic examination of the evidence of Pushpa
(PW-5) and that of Sukhdev (PW-2) would show that they are.
B in conformity with each other. Minor discrepancies are bound
to be there otherwise they would be termed as tutored
witnesses. It is also pertinent to mention here that evidence of
~·
(PW:-2) is in line with F.l.R. and his statement given to the
' ~
police.
c 28. Even though we have critically gone through the
evidence of all these witnesses and have thoroughly scanned
the same but apart from minor discrepancies which are bound
to appear in a natural course of conduct of a normal human .
being, there are no serious material discrepancies in the
~
D evidence warranting us to completely discard their evidence.
~

29. There is no reason to doubt the credibility of all these
witnesses. Apart from the above, there is no reason why they
would falsely try to implicate the appellant, more so, when they
had already lost Pooja and her children. Nothing has come on
E
record that these witnesses /were having strained relations with ·
the appellant. On !he other hand, it is clearly made out from the
evidence that they were having cordial relations and were +
visiting each other quite often.
"
F 30. It is manifest from the evidence mentioned hereinabove
that the appellant had got himself admitted in Civil Hospital,
Jalandhar on 4.3.2005 and was under treatment of Dr. Kamaljit
Singh Bawa (PW-10), Medical Specialist of the Civil Hospital.
According to Dr. Kamaljit Singh Bawa (PW-10), the appellant
G was admitted on 4.2.2005 at about 6.30 a.m. and was
discharged on 7.3.2005. Dr. Kamaljit Singh Bawa has not been f
able to conclusively say that any Sulphas tablet was .taken by ' .... ....
the appellant or not. He has deposed that after taking tablets,
it is difficult to survive for a long period.
H
SUSHIL KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB 1095
[DEEPAK VERMA, J.)

-,J. 31. Appellant has not offered any explanation as to where A
was he ~efore his admission in the hospital on the fateful day.
Plea of alibi taken by him has not been found to be truthful and
in our opinion rightly so as the same stands falsified from the
evidence of Satpal (PW-4) who had seen him coming out of
~ his own house at 5.00 a.m. This is only indicative of the fact B
that after commission of the alleged crime, he got himself
admitted in the Civil Hospital. It is certain that he had committed
~ the crime sometime in night and then got himself admitted in
~ \

the hospital at 6.30 a.m.

32. For all these reasons, as far as ptea of alibi is
c
concerned, we concur with the findings recorded by learned trial
Judge as also High Court.

33. In the light of the aforesaid evidence, learned counsel
y' for appellant submitted that the only evidence against the 0
f ..., appellant is, recovery of one rope and knife but in view of
(
medical evidence it was not a case that they had died on
"( account of strangulation, which is manifest from the post-
' mortem reports prepared by Dr. S.K. Sharma (P"N-1), thus
recovery of rope was of no consequence. As far as knife was E
concerned, same did not have any blood stains much less
-I human blood, which would leave only with the evidence of
--t Satpal (PW-4) who had last seen the appellant coming out from
his own house. It was therefore, contended that doctrine of last
• seen, is a weak type of evidence and it is not enough to hold F
the appellant guilty.

34. On the otiler hand, learned counsel for respondent
strongly contended before us that in any case it is not a case
of acquittal for the following reasons:
G
35. (i) Dead bodies werefound from the house of appellant
... l '- where he was also living with them and has not explained about
the incident;

(ii) Blood stained bed sheets, clothes, pillows were
H
1096 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2009] 13 (ADDL.) S.C.R.

A recovered from the bed room, where the dead bodies were A-
found which was shared by the appellant too;

(iii) Recovery of knife and rope from the -same place;

(iv) appellant was last seen by (PW-4) at 5.00 a.m., while
B he was coming out from his house in a perplexed condition;

(v) Sukhdev (PW-2) had no occasion to visit the house of

c
the appellant at 6.30 a.m. on the fateful day unless he was
informed about the incident by the appellant; '
' <I.

(vi) couple was having strained relations and was passing
through bad financial conditions; and
(vii) taking of false plea of alibi is also one of the strong
circumstances against the appellant to connect him with the
D commission of crime. 'or

36. Thus, looking to the totality of the facts and features of
the case and keeping in view the evidence availabJ,e on record,
· we have no doubt in our mind that the offence was committed
E by the appellant and appellant only.
37. While holding that he alone is guilty of commission of
the murder of his wife and two children, now the question that
arises for consideration is what should be just and proper
....
sentence to be awarded. ..
F
38. On this question also we have heard learned counsel
for the parties at length and given our al)xious consideration.
Learned counsel for the appellant' contended that looking to the
mitigating circumstances available on record, no case for
G awarding death sentence has been made out and he deserves
to be acquitted whereas learned counsel for respondent
submitted that it is a sure-shot case for awarding of death _r ~
sentence to the appellant.

39. To press the respective contentions in this regard they
H
....
SUSHIL KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB 1097
[DEEPAK VERMA, J.]
have cited the most celebrated leading case on this point, viz., A
-,J. Bachan Singh v. State ·of Punjab and others reported in (1980)
2 SCC 684. This is a Constitution Bench Judgment of this Court.
In para 206 of the said judgment, mitigating circumstances have
been described which can be taken into consideration while
awarding death sentence. Paras 206 and 207 dealing in this B
regard are reproduced hereinbelow which read as thus :

"206. Dr. Chatale has suggested these mitigating factors:
~
~ . Mitigating circumstances:- In the exercise of its discretion
in the above cases, the court shall take into account the c
following circumstances:-

(1) That the offence was committed under the influence of
extreme mental or emotional disturbance.
D
~
(2) The age of the accused, if the accused is young or old,
he shall not be sentenced to death.
"
(3) The probability that the accused .V!Ould not commit
criminal acts of violence as would constitute a continuing
threat to society. E

(4) The probability that the accused can be reformed and
rehabilitated.
4-
The State shall by evidence prove that the accused
4
does not satisfy the conditions (3) and (4) above. F
-- (5) That in the facts and circumstance of the case the
accused believed that he was morally justified in
committing the offence.
G
(6) That the accused acted under the duress or domination
of another person .
~
.·.
(7) That the condition of the accused showed that he was
mentally defective and that the said defect impajred his
capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct. H
1098 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2009) 13 (ADDL.) S.C.R.

A 207. We will do no more than to say that these are
. . ··-,-,A-
undoubtedly relevant circumstances and must be given ··
'
great weight in the determination of sentence. Some of !

these factors like extreme youth can instead be of
·compelling importance. In several State of India, there are
B in force special enactments, according to which a 'child', ,
that is, a person who at the date of murder was less than
16 years of age', cannot be tried, convicted and sentenced
to death or for life for murder, nor dealt witli according toa >-
the same criminal procedure as an adult: The special ActS 8 ' -1

c provide for·the reformatory procedure for such juvenile''
offenders or children. n ,

40. The case of Bachan Singh (supra),. is of course, the
leading case on the said question which was considered by a
three Judge Bench of this Court in the case of Machhi Singh
D & Ors. v. State of Punjab reported.in (1983) 3 SCC 470"""
wherein same principles. of law have been reiterated. In the
case of Om Prakash v. State of Haiyana reported in (1999) 3
sec 19, it has been explained as to why death sentence will
not be proper and what are the relevant factors to .be .
E considered and it has further been observed that. court m·ust ·
balance the mitigating and aggravating circumstances· of the
case, mental condition of the accused, the dispute between the
families which ultimately resulted in multiple murders. Even·~
though it was a case of murder of seven persons, but Division ·
F Bench of this Court came to the conclusion that it was not a fit _ •
case which would fall within the ambit of "rarest of rare case's•. · :.

41. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent
has placed reliance on the judgments in the case of Bablu @. .
,· G Mubaraik Hussain v. State of Rajasthan reported in (2006) 13
SCC 116 and State of Uttar Pradesh v. Sattan. alias Satyendra
& Ors. reported in (2009) 4 SCC 736 to strongly contend th~t~
in the facts and circumstances of the case, ends of justice would ·~ -· -,
be met only when the appellant is awarded death sentence.
H 42. Learned counsel for the appellant has brought to our~ .,
SUSHIL KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB 1099
[DEEPAK VERMA, J.]
... ,_. notice yet another recent judgment of this Court in the case of A
Santosh Kumar Satish Bhushan Boriyar etc. v. State of
Maharashtra etc. reported in (2009) 6 SCC 498. In this

-
judgment, all the previous judgments on the said issue have
been considered and analysed. The law on the question of
Capital Punishment has been re-stated. Thereafter, guidelines a
have been formulated to be observed while awarding death
~sentence. Lastly, it has been held that there have to be very
.- .special reasons to record death penalty and if mitigating factors
in the case are stronger then it is neither proper nor justified to
award death sentence and it would be sufficient to place it out c
of "rarest of rare category". We have critically gone through the
said judgment.
43. In the case in hand, weighing the mitigating
_..,circumstances the following facts are manifest:
0
(i) appellant had been unemployed for last 7 to 8 months

(Ii) he used to borrow money from others to meet his daily
needs. ·
E
(iii) he himself had consumed 'sulphas tablets' to commit
~uicide even though not medically established .

.- (iv) he therefore, was keen that his whole family should be
finished and no one should be alive to suffer the pain and agony · F
alone.

(v) he was fed up with his life and was seen ,in a perplexed
condition by PW-4.
(vi) in any case, he cannot be a threat to the society and G
_~re ~re fairly good chances of his refonnation as he has learnt
. . sufficient lesson from it.

44. Extreme poverty had driven the appellant to commit the
grueso~e murder of three of his very near and dear family H
1100 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2009) 13 (ADDL.) S.C.R.

A members - his wife, minor son and daughter.

45. There is nothing on record to show that appellant is a
habitual offender. He appears to be a peace loving,.law abiding
citizen but as he was poverty stricken, he thought in his wisdom
to completely eliminate his family so that all problems would
8
come to an end. Precisely, this appears to be the reason for
him to consume some poisonous substances, after committing ,>.-
the offence of murder. No witness has complained about his · 1
bad or intolerable behaviour in the past. Many people had
visited his house after the incident is indicative of the fact that
C he had cordial relations with all. He is now about 35 years of
age and there appear to be fairly good chances of the appellant
gettjng reformed and becoming a good citizen.

46. Thus, looking to the matter from all angles and after ~
. D giving our serious consideration to the whole matter, we are of
the opinion that it is not a fit case where it would fall within the
category of "rarest of rare case" and therefore death sentence
as awarded to him by learned trial Judge and confirmed by
High Court deserves to be'set aside and quashed and is
e accordingly done so by us instead he is held guilty of
commission of offence under Section 302 bf the IPC on three
counts and is awarded life imprisonment fo'r the same. The .,._
impugned judgment and order stands modified to the aforesaid
extent and the appeal accordingly stands disposed of.

F D.G. Appeal partly allowed.