Supreme Court Acquits Man Sentenced To Death For Alleged Murder Of Mother, Wife & 2-Yr-Old Daughter

The Supreme Court today set aside the conviction and the death sentence of a man for the alleged murder of his mother, wife and two-year-old daughter noting that the prosecution was unable to prove an unbroken chain of events.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan delivered the verdict. Pronouncing the decision, Justice Gavai said:

"We have found that the prosecution has failed to prove any of the intervening circumstances...and since it's a case of circumstantial evidence, in no case the prosecution has been possible to prove an unbroken chain of events which can lead to [...] Therefore, we have allowed the appeal."

Briefly put, appellant-Vishwajeet Kerba Masalkar was convicted by the Trial Court under Sections 302, 307 and 201 of IPC. In appeal, the Bombay High Court confirmed the death penalty, being of the view that the case deserved to be treated as "rarest of the rare".

Reflecting on the brutality of the murder, the High Court observed that Masalkar committed planned, cold-blooded murder of his mother, wife and daughter. "By finishing the family, the accused has tried to shatter the basic foundation of the society" it said. As such, the case pricked at the judicial conscience of the Court.

Aggrieved by the High Court decision, Masalkar approached the Supreme Court.

Background

Masalkar was working as a Facility Executive in a Pune-based company. He informed the police that theft took place at his house, in course of which his mother, wife and daughter were killed and his neighbour injured.

The said information was treated as a complaint and case registered under Sections 302 and 397 of IPC. During the investigation, it was noticed that theft of gold ornaments or cash did not take place from the house, nor was there any forcible entry. It was further found that Masalkar was having a love affair outside marriage. The police suspected Masalkar of committing the murder of his wife, mother and child, as well as of causing injuries to his neighbour as he might have witnessed the said murder. Accordingly, investigation was conducted and Masalkar arrested.

After the investigation was concluded, the Trial Judge examined the material and convicted Masalkar, sentencing him to death. Against this decision, Masalkar approached the High Court.

Before the High Court, the State counsel submitted that initially, the police was misled by Masalkar to believe that a theft took place resulting in the death of his wife, mother and daughter. However, later, the gold ornaments alleged to have been stolen were discovered hidden behind a photo frame in the house itself. Further, it was stated that a hammer was recovered at Masalkar's instance.

After examining all the material, the High Court confirmed the death sentence, observing,

"we have drawn elaborate balance sheet of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. There are only 6 aggravating circumstances available in the present case. As against this, none of the mitigating circumstances are available. The balance sheet of aggravating and mitigating circumstances tilts in favour of the aggravating circumstances. In view thereof, we find that the present case deserves to be treated as rarest of rare case.

It has been made clear by the Hon'ble the Apex Court that the rarest of rare case test depends upon the perception of the Society and the approach should be "society­centric" and not "judge centric". The test has to be applied whether the society will address awarding of death sentence to the crime in question."

Challenging this decision, Masalkar approached the Supreme Court.

Case Title: VISHWAJEET KERBA MASALKAR v. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA, Crl.A. No.213/2020