Solitary Confinement For About Ten Years Illegal : Supreme Court Commutes Death Sentence Of Ex Cop Accused Of Rape & Murder Of A Housewife

The Supreme Court commuted death sentence of a murder accused taking into account his illegal solitary confinement for about ten years.

BA Umesh alias Umesh Reddy, an ex-cop, was sentenced to death in a rape and murder case by a Sessions Court in Bengaluru upon being convicted in the year 2006.  He was found guilty of rape and murder of a house wife. Later, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence awarded to him in year 2011. The mercy petition was rejected by the President of India and challenging the same he approached the Karnataka High Court. As the writ petition filed by him got dismissed, he approached the Apex Court.

Before the Apex Court, it was contended that from 2006 till 2016, he was kept in solitary confinement in "Andheri Block" in violation of the judgment in Sunil Batra vs. Delhi Administration & Ors (1978) 4 SCC 494. He also relied on the decision in Ajay Kumar Pal vs Union of India 2015 (2) SCC 478 in which segregation of the concerned petitioner, from the day he was awarded death sentence till his mercy petition was disposed of, was taken to be in violation of the law laid down by this Court in Sunil Batra and the death sentence was commuted.

Taking note of this contention and other relevant records produced before it, the court observed:

"Having considered the entirety of matter, in our view, the impact of solitary confinement were obviously evident in the instant case, as would be clear from the letter given by the medical professional on 6.11.2011 and the communication emanating from the jail on 8.11.2011. The incarceration in solitary confinement thus did show ill effects on the well-being of the appellant. In the backdrop of these features of the matter, in our view, the appellant is entitled to have the death sentence imposed upon him to be commuted to death sentence to life.

The court thus commuted the death sentence to sentence of life imprisonment with a rider that he shall undergo minimum sentence of 30 years.

"If any application for remission is moved on his behalf, the same shall be considered on its own merits only after he has undergone actual sentence of 30 years. If no remission is granted, it goes without saying that as laid down by this Court in Gopal Vinayak Godse vs. State of Maharashtra, the sentence of imprisonment for life shall mean till the remainder of his life", the court added.

Case details

B A Umesh vs Union of India | 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 907 | CA 1892 OF 2022 | 4 November 2022 | CJI UU Lalit, S. Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha

Counsel For Appellant(s) : Dr. Yug Mohit Chaudhary, Adv. Mr. Siddhartha Sharma, Adv. Mr. Prabu Ramasubramaniam, Adv. Ms. Payoshi Roy, Adv. Mr. Raghunatha Sethupathy B., Adv. Mr. K. Paari Vendhan, AOR

Counsel For Respondent(s) : Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG Mr. Sharath Nambiar, Adv. Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Anuj Udupa, Adv. Mr. Nakul Changappa, Adv. Mr. Chitransh Sharma, Adv. Ms. Akriti Manubarwala, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. Nikhil Goel, AAG Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, AOR Mr. Vishal Banshal, Adv. Ms. Rajeshwari Shankar, Adv. Mr. Niroop Sukrithy, Adv. Mohd. Nais, Adv.

Headnotes

Death Sentence - Solitary confinement - Accused sentenced to death for rape and murder of a housewife - The incarceration in solitary confinement and segregation from 2006 to 2013 was without the sanction of law and completely opposed to the principles laid down by this Court in Sunil Batra vs. Delhi Administration & Ors (1978) 4 SCC 494 - The incarceration in solitary confinement thus did show ill effects on the well-being - He is entitled to have the death sentence imposed upon him to be commuted to death sentence to life - He shall undergo minimum sentence of 30 years and if any application for remission is moved on his behalf, the same shall be considered on its own merits only after he has undergone actual sentence of 30 years - If no remission is granted, the sentence of imprisonment for life shall mean till the remainder of his life.

Mercy Petition - Procedure governing petitions for mercy in death sentence cases provides the mercy petition must be filed within seven days of the disposal of the appeal or dismissal of special leave petition - The concerned instructionrequires suitable modification so as to enable the convicted accused to file mercy petition after exhaustion of remedies in Court of law. (Para 29)

Death Sentence - Effect of delay in execution of death sentence due to pendency of Mercy Petition discussed (Para 12-17)

Click here to Read/Download Judgment