Supreme Court Stays Death Sentence Awarded To POCSO Convict ; Directs His Psychological Evaluation

The Supreme Court stayed execution of death sentence awarded to a man accused of rape and murder of a 11 year old girl.

We feel that the interest of justice dictates that we obtain a psychological evaluation of the appellant, the bench comprising Justices UU Lalit, S. Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha said while granting leave in the special leave petition filed by Jai Prakash challenging the Uttarakhand High Court judgment which confirmed the death sentence awarded to him by the Trial Court.

Jai Prakash was accused of rape and murder of a minor daughter of his co- labourer. The Trial Court convicted him under Sections 302, 201, 376, 377 IPC and under Section 6 of the POCSO Act.

"The act committed by appellant is so brutal that it pricks or shocks not only the judicial conscious but even the conscious of the society and this case certainly falls in the category of "rarest of the rare cases" which calls for no punishment other than capital punishment", the High Court had observed while dismissing his appeal in January 2020. The High Court had also observed that it does not entertain any "lingering doubt in the case" and that the charges are proved beyond all reasonable doubt, with utmost certainty.

While granting leave in the SLP filed by accused against this judgment, the Apex Court bench directed the State to place the following before it: (1) place the Report(s) of all the Probation Officer(s) relating to the accused/appellant (2) Report of the Jail Administration about the nature of the work done by the appellant while in jail.

Pending further consideration, the effect and operation of death sentence awarded to the appellant shall remain stayed. Let an intimation in this regard be sent to the concerned prison immediately, the bench ordered.

The court also directed the Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand to constitute a suitable team for psychological evaluation of the accused/appellant in this case and send a report on or before 25.04.2022. The Jail Authorities were directed to cooperate in facilitating access in this regard. 

The case will be next considered on 4th May 2022.

Case: Jai Prakash vs State of Uttarakhand | SLP (Crl) 1707-1708/2022 

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