Two convicts, awarded capital punishment in a murder case of 2007 in which eight persons were killed, got relief on Friday from the Supreme Court which commuted their sentence to life imprisonment for 30 years observing that it cannot be said there is no possibility of their reformation.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao delivered the verdict on the plea filed by the convicts seeking review of the October 2014 judgement of the apex court which had dismissed their appeal against the Jharkhand High Court order. The high court, in its July 2009 order, had upheld the conviction and death sentence awarded to the two petitioners by the trial court.“Considering all of the above, it cannot be said that there is no possibility of reformation of the petitioners, foreclosing the alternative option of a lesser sentence and making the imposition of death sentence imperative,” said the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna.
The top court converted the sentence imposed on petitioners Mofil Khan and Mobarak Khan from death to life imprisonment for 30 years.“However, keeping in mind the gruesome murder of the entire family of their sibling in a pre-planned manner without provocation due to a property dispute, we are of the opinion that the petitioners deserve a sentence of a period of 30 years,” it said while disposing of the review petition.
