"Our Forgiving Nature Has To Come To An End": Justice Dipankar Datta Links Death Sentence Commutations To Rise In Crime
Justice Dipankar Datta recalled a case in which a man was spared the gallows even after he killed his wife, whose testimony had earlier sent him to prison, while out on parole
A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu made the remarks while hearing a life convict's plea for premature release
Supreme Court, Judge Justice Dipankar Datta on Thursday orally remarked that its leniency in commuting death sentences has contributed to a rise in crime in the country, and that this approach has to "come to an end somewhere".
The bench comprising of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu made the observations while hearing a plea for the premature release of a life convict. The convict's death sentence in a murder case had been commuted to life imprisonment.
"Rarest Of Rare" Test Applied Earlier, But Times Have Changed, Says Justice Datta
During the hearing today, Justice Datta orally observed that murder cases were earlier dealt with on the basis of the 'rarest of rare' doctrine, but that times have changed.
Justice Datta attributed the problem to the Court's own approach to sentencing. He said, "It is because of our forgiving nature, that India is facing these problems. Forgive, forgive, forgive, you have to draw a line somewhere."
Quoting example, Justice Datta recalled a case in which the Supreme Court had commuted the death sentence of a man who raped and murdered his elder daughter. "The father goes to jail on life imprisonment on the basis of the mother's testimony. After some years, the father comes out on parole and murders the mother in front of his younger daughter," Justice Datta said.
He added, "On the younger daughter's testimony, he is given death sentence. And then death sentence is commuted to life sentence by the Supreme Court on the ground that he did not murder the younger child. That is why we say, our forgiving nature has to come to an end somewhere."