Claimant/Plaintiff– Bachan Singh.
Defendant– State of Punjab.
Judgment Date- May 09, 1980
Bench: Y Chandrachud, N Untwalia, P Bhagwati, R Sarkaria, A Gupta
Judgment- R Sarkaria
Area- Indian Penal Code, 1860
FACTS- Bachan Singh was convicted of three murders and sentenced to death by the trial court. The conviction and sentence were upheld by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. Bachan Singh then appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty.
Issues- Whether the death penalty is unconstitutional because it violated the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
Judgment- Justice R Sarkaria held that the death sentence is not inherently unconstitutional. Further, the court also held that the death sentence should not be imposed as a matter of course. The court held that the death sentence should only be imposed in cases where the crime is of the "rarest of rare" kind and where the accused is not amenable to reform.
The court identified the following factors that should be considered in determining whether a case is "rarest of rare":
The nature and gravity of the crime.
The circumstances of the crime.
The age of the accused.
The accused's criminal history.
The accused's chances of rehabilitation.
Significance- The case of Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab is significant because it established the "rarest of rare" doctrine in India. The doctrine has been used to uphold death sentences in a number of cases, but it has also been used to commute death sentences to life imprisonment. The case also established that the death sentence should not be imposed as a matter of course. The court held that the death sentence should only be imposed in cases where the crime is of the "rarest of rare" kind and where the accused is not amenable to reform.
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