Though no general guidelines are laid down in the Code for awarding punishment, generally the judicial discretion of the court is guided by the principle that the punishment should be commensurate with the gravity of the offence having regard to the aggravating and mitigating circumstances vis--vis an accused in each case. In such situation, the obligation of the court in making the choice of death sentence for the person who is found guilty of murder becomes more onerous indeed. [Para 12] [871-E-H; 872-A] Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab (1980) 2 SCC 684; Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab (1983) 3 SCC 470, relied on. Om Prakash v. State of Haryana (1999) 3 SCC 19, referred to. 2. On the question of awarding the sentence for the offences for which life imprisonment as well as the death sentence is prescribed, sub-section (3) of Section 354 CrPC enjoins that in the case of sentence of death, special reasons for such sentence shall be stated. Whether the case is one of the rarest of the rare cases is a question which has to be determined on the facts of each case. The choice of the death sentence has to be made only in the rarest of the rare cases and that where culpability of the accused has assumed depravity or where the accused is found to be an ardent criminal and menace to the society; where the crime is committed in an organized manner and is gruesome, cold-blooded, heinous and atrocious; and where innocent and unarmed persons are attacked and murdered without any provocation. [Paras 13 and 17] [872-A-B; 873-E-G] Allauddin Mian v. State of Bihar (1989) 3 SCC 5, relied on. 3. Both the respondents behaved in a most cruel manner, killed four persons while they were asleep. Three, out of the four deceased persons, were murdered within the precincts of a Gurdwara. But, there were certain mitigating circumstances in the case which cannot be lost sight of. Both the respondents, as is disclosed from the records, had illicit relationship with the third accused, who was wife of one of the deceased and when she narrated her woes and the harassment, both the accused persons, lost their balance and acted in a cruel manner by entering into the house of deceased in the dead night and killing in the house and other three sons in the Gurdwara. Thereafter, they also gave threat to everybody outside the house by stating that they have killed those persons and, therefore, no one should dare to come near them. This behaviour on the part of the accused- respondents would show that they acted in the manner being driven more by infatuation and also being devoid of their sense on coming to know about the ill treatment meted out to 'BK'. Though the act of the accused is a gruesome one but it was a result of human mind going astray. No doubt, they acted in a ghastly manner for which, they were adequately punished.