In a significant ruling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has commuted the death sentences of two convicts involved in the notorious 2005 kidnapping and murder of a teenage boy in Hoshiarpur. The court cited an excessive and unjustified delay in the disposal of their mercy petitions as the primary reason for its decision.
The Court's Rationale for Commutation
A division bench comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor delivered the verdict, converting the capital punishment awarded to Vikram Singh alias Vicky Walia and Jasbir Singh alias Jassa into life imprisonment. However, the bench explicitly stated that the convicts must remain incarcerated for the remainder of their natural lives and will not be eligible for any form of premature release or commutation under existing laws.
The bench observed that the convicts had been living under the "shadow of death" for over two decades, a period marked by severe psychological stress. This condition, often termed the 'Death Row Phenomenon', was deemed a form of torture. The court quoted, "Between funeral fire and mental worry, it is the latter, which is more devastating, for funeral fire burns only the dead body while the mental worry burns the living one."
Legal Arguments and Case History
The convicts, through their counsel senior advocate Gursharan Kaur Mann, did not challenge their conviction but contested the post-conviction process. They raised several critical issues:
- Illegal solitary confinement from 2006 to 2009.
- An unreasonable delay of over five years in deciding their mercy petitions.
- Failure by authorities to promptly inform them of their right to file mercy petitions.
- Lack of legal aid during the process.
These factors, they argued, constituted cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, warranting the commutation of their death sentence. The court agreed, relying on a precedent set by the Supreme Court in the Shatrughan Chauhan versus Union of India case.
The legal journey of this case saw the death sentence first awarded by a Hoshiarpur court on December 21, 2006. The Punjab and Haryana High Court confirmed it on May 30, 2008, and the Supreme Court upheld the sentence for Vikram and Jasbir on January 25, 2010. The then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, rejected their mercy plea on August 7, 2016, but their hanging was stayed pending the resolution of this appeal.
Details of the 2005 Crime
The case dates back to February 2005, when Abhi Verma alias Harry, the 16-year-old son of a goldsmith, was abducted from Hoshiarpur for a ransom of Rs 50 lakh. The kidnappers, Vikram Singh, Jasbir Singh, and an accomplice named Sonia, brutally murdered the boy despite police involvement. His body was recovered from a field the next day.
All three were initially sentenced to death. While the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Vikram and Jasbir, it commuted Sonia's sentence to life imprisonment in its 2010 ruling.
The High Court's latest decision underscores the judiciary's stance on procedural delays in capital punishment cases, emphasizing that justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done within a reasonable timeframe.
