Mohd. Farooq Abdul Gafur and Another V/s State of Maharashtra

Information Type: Judicial Information
Court: Supreme Court
Date of Judgment(s): 2009-08-06
Case Type: Appeal (Criminal)
Judge Name: V.S. Sirpurkar & Deepak Verma
Subject: Criminal Law - Life Imprisonment
Statutes / Acts: Indian Penal Code, 1860
Bench Strength: Double Bench
State of Appellant(s): Maharashtra
Equal Citation Details :

2009 (12) SCR 1093

 

Case Note / Description :

It is worth mentioning that in the present case the High Court had aquitted both Accused 5, M Zuber Kasam Shaikh and Accused 6, Fazal Mohd Shaikh. It is from that acquittal that appeals for their conviction and sentencing come before us. While imposing the sentence of life on the accussed the Court must have the judgment of acquittal of the High Court in the back of its mind. In our considered opinion if at least one of the courts below had acquitted the accused person in respect of the crimes for which they are to be sentenced, the burden on the prosecution would be even more heavier, which the State in our opinion has not been able to discharge.  If a person is sentenced to imprisonment, even if it be for life, and subsequently it is found that he was innocent and was wrongly convicted, he can be set free. Of course, the imprisonment that he has suffered till then cannot be undone and the time he has spent in the prison cannot be given back. Such a reversal is not possible where a person has been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. The execution of the sentence of death in such cases makes miscarriage of justice irrevocable. It is a finality which cannot be corrected. And once Accused 5, M Zuber Kasam Shaikh and Accused 6 Fazal Mohd Shaikh have been sentenced to life there remains no question of awarding a death sentence to Accused 7,Azzizuddin Zahiruddin Shaikh who had played no greater a role in the said incident as Accused 5, M Zuber Kasam Shaikh and Accused 6 Fazal Mohd Shaikh. All the three accused stand on an equal footing and therefore the sentences to be imposed upon them must not differ. It is for the aforementioned reasons that the appeals filed by the State as regard the imposition of a death Sentence deserves to be dismissed.

 
 
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