New Delhi: In a big blow to rights activists demanding abolition of death penalty, the Supreme Court has held that if courts, on facts and circumstances, find that award of death sentence is the only punishment that could be granted to the accused, it is difficult to revisit that question in collateral proceedings and say that the punishment of death is disproportionate to the crime.
Giving this ruling, the Apex Court held as constitutionally valid IPC Section 364A relating to kidnap and murder and said the increase in number of these crimes necessitated the incorporation of this provision.
A three-judge bench of Justices T.S. Thakur, R.K. Agrawal and A.K. Goel said award of death penalty in a case of kidnapping or abduction will not qualify for being described as barbaric.
It affirmed a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court awarding death sentence to the appellant Vikram Singh for an offence of kidnapping and murder.
