Judgment

PALEKAR, J. :- The appellant Jagmohan Singh has been convicted under Section 302, IPC for the murder of one Chhotey Singh and sentenced to death by the learned Sessions Judge, Shahjahanpur. The conviction and the sentence are confirmed by the Allahabad High Court. On the appellant coming to this Court by special leave, special leave was granted limited to the question of sentence only.

2. The short facts of the case are that some six or seven years before the present offence one Shivraj Singh, father of Jagbir Singh a cousin of the appellant, was murdered. The deceased Chhotey Singh was charged for that murder but was eventually acquitted by the High Court. As a result of that murder, there was ill-feeling between Chhotey Singh, on the one hand, and the appellant and Jagbir Singh, on the other. Both of them were minors at the time of the murder of Shivraj Singh. But by now they had grown up and it is plain from the evidence that Chhotey Singh s murder was the result of this ill-feeling. Chhotey Singh was murdered on September 10, 1969 at about 5.00 P. M. A day earlier, there was a quarrel between Jagmohan Singh and Jagbir Singh, on the one hand and Chhotey Singh, on the other on the question of a right to irrigate their fields. However, the dispute was settled by persons who reached the spot at the time and nothing untoward happened. Next day, however, the appellant armed with a country made pistol and Jagbir Singh armed with a lathi concealed themselves in a bajra field and emerged from the same as Chhotey Singh passed by to go to his field for fetching fodder. The appellant asked Chhotey Singh to stop so that the matter between them could be settled once for all. Naturally Chhotey Singh tried to run away but he was chased by the appellant and shot in the back. Chhotey Singh fell down after running some distance and died. That is how the murder was committed.

3. On the facts and circumstances of the case the learned Sessions Judge held that the appellant deserved the extreme penalty. The High Court, while confirming the death sentence, observed that there were no extenuating circumstances and the sentence of death awarded to the appellant was just and proper. The question is whether this Court should interfere with the sentence.

4. Under Section 367 (5) of the Criminal Procedure Code as it stood before its amendment by Act 26 of 1955 the normal rule was to sentence the accused to death on a conviction for murder and to impose the lesser sentence of imprisonment for life for reasons to be recorded in writing. That provision is now deleted and it is left to the judicial discretion of the Court whether the death sentence or the lesser sentence should be imposed. That discretion has been exercised concurrently by the Trial Court and the High Court and the question is whether there are sufficient reasons for this Court to interfere with that discretion. As pointed out by this Court in Ram Narain v. The State of U. P. AIR 1971 SC 757 this Court normally does not interfere with the discretion exercised by the High Court on the question of sentence unless the High Court has disregarded recognised principles in imposing the sentence and there has been a failure of justice. It cannot be said on the facts of this case that there has been any breach of the principles governing the matter of sentence. The appellant had armed himself with a gun and was lying in wait for the victim to pass. There was no immediate cause. The murder was entirely motivated by ill-feelings nurtured for years. The offence was premeditated. On seeing the appellant Chhotey Singh started running away but he was chased and done to death. In these circumstances, it can hardly be said that the High Court did not exercise its discretion properly. We are, therefore, not inclined to interfere with the sentence imposed by the High Court.

5. Mr. Garg appearing on behalf of the appellant however raised the question of constitutional impermissibility of the death sentenc