IMPORTANT POINT
Life sentence is the rule, death is an exception

JUDGMENT

Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, J.-These appeals arise out of the common judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court of Allahabad in Criminal Appeal No.4148/2007 along with Criminal Reference No.19/2007 by which, the High Court while accepting the Criminal Reference insofar as it related to appellant Sandeep in Criminal Appeal No.1651/2009, rejected the same insofar as it related to appellant Shashi Bhushan in Criminal Appeal Nos.1425-26/2011. In other words, while upholding the sentence of death awarded to Sandeep, the appellant in Criminal Appeal No.1651/2009, the Division Bench modified the sentence into one of life imprisonment insofar as it related to Shashi Bhushan, the appellant in Criminal Appeal Nos.1425-26/2011.

2. Shorn of unnecessary facts, the case of the prosecution as projected before the trial Court was that on 17.11.2004 I D.N. Verma (PW- 1) along with Sub-Inspector Chander Pal Singh (PW-2), Constable Rambir Singh, Constable Sukhram, Constable Ashok Kumar and Driver Yashvir Singh were on patrolling duty; that when they reached ahead of Badsu on Khatoli Road leading towards Falut, they met Constable Rajesh Kumar and another Constable Ramavtar who informed PW-1 and other persons accompanying him that one Indica car took a turn for going towards Falut road and that they heard some screaming noise from that vehicle. PW-1, accompanied by the other personnel referred to above, proceeded towards Falut road and after a distance saw an Indica car. They stated to have seen through the focus light of the police jeep two young men trying to pull out a girl in an injured condition by opening the rear door of the car. It is stated that it was around 21.30 hours. The police jeep in which PW-1 and others were proceeding stopped ahead of the Indica car and caught hold of the two young men and also noticed a girl, with injuries all over, on whom acid was also sprinkled. The girl had also sustained injuries on the head as well as on her right cheek. On noticing the above, according to PW-1, when he questioned her, she responded by stating that her name was Jyoti and she is the daughter of one Baljeet Singh, R/o Lane No.16, House No.56, Jagatpuri, P.S. Preet Vihar, New Delhi and that her mother’s name was Varsha whose cell number was 9871020368. Inspector D.N. Verma (PW-1) stated to have gathered information from her that she developed friendship with the appellant Sandeep while she was working in a mobile shop. She also stated to have revealed that she was pregnant. According to the information gathered from Jyoti, accused Sandeep had called her on that evening and asked her to come to Laxmi Nagar market, Delhi, around 6 p.m. promising her that he will marry her at Haridwar. Believing his words, she went to Laxmi Nagar market from where she was taken in a car and that while they were moving in the vehicle, accused Sandeep asked Jyoti to get the foetus aborted at Meerut, to which she disagreed. On this, he started beating her inside the vehicle right from the point of Modinagar. She stated to have further informed PW-1 and others that she told accused Sandeep that she would reveal all facts to his family members as well as to the police and that when the vehicle in which they were travelling turned towards an isolated place near Khatoli, they tried to throw her into the sugarcane field at which point of time PW-1 and other police members reached the spot. According to her information to PW-1, accused Sandeep and Shashi Bhushan caused the injuries on her with the aid of a jack and pana (spanner) apart from cutting her with a blade and also by pouring acid on her head. PW-1 stated that on noticing the condition of the girl, he arranged for shifting her to Muzaffarnagar Government Hospital in the police jeep along with Constable Rambir Singh and the driver of the jeep. It was further stated that accused Sandeep and Shashi Bhushan, on being apprehended, also revealed their names and informed that accused Sandeep used