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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
VIKRAM NATH, SANJAY KAROL, SANDEEP MEHTA, JJ.
Vasanta Sampat Dupare – Petitioner
Versus
Union Of India & Ors. – Respondents
Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 371 of 2023
Decided on : 25-08-2025
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. constitutional safeguards for capital punishment (Para 1) |
| 2. timeline of events leading to petition (Para 2 , 3) |
| 3. petition under article 32 (Para 4) |
| 4. arguments presented by the petitioner (Para 5) |
| 5. arguments presented by the union of india (Para 6) |
| 6. (Para 7 , 8 , 35 , 36) |
| 7. the necessity for a fairness in capital cases (Para 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13) |
| 8. article 32 as a safeguard for capital punishment (Para 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20) |
| 9. judicial developments in procedural safeguards (Para 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26) |
| 10. reformative justice in capital cases (Para 27 , 28 , 29) |
| 11. final ruling and implications (Para 30 , 31) |
| 12. reopening of the sentencing phase (Para 32 , 33 , 34) |
| 13. discussion on individualized sentencing (Para 37 , 38 , 39 , 40) |
| 14. the dignity of convicts and article 21 (Para 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45) |
| 15. blackstonian theory and its implications (Para 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50) |
| 16. final observations on the scope of article 32 (Para 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59) |
JUDGMENT :
VIKRAM NATH, J.
1. The majesty of our Constitution lies not in the might of the State but in its restraint. When the Court contemplates the ultimate punishment, i.e. the Capital Punishment, it enters a domain where justice must be tempered by conscience and guided by the unwavering promises of equality, dignity and fair procedure. A Constitution that proclaims liberty and dignity as its first commitments cannot permit the State to end a human life unless every safeguard of fairness has been honoured and every civilising impulse of the law has been heard. The question is never only what penalty a crime might merit, it is first whether the machinery of the Republic has honoured every safeguard that makes punishment lawful in a constitutional democracy. In the narrow space between guilt and the gallows, a robust Constitution demands that we pause, look again, and ask whether the process itself has measured up to the high bar that humanity and the rule of law together set.
2. The present writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, assails the continuing validity of the sentence of death affirmed against the Petitioner, and seeks its reconsideration in the light of subsequent legislative and judicial developments, particularly with reference to the guidelines laid down in the case of Manoj and others v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2023) 2 SCC 353.
3. The facts giving rise to this writ petition are as follows:
3.1 The prosecution case in brief is that on 03.04.2008, the Petitioner allegedly lured a four-year-old girl away from her home in Wadi, Nagpur, transported her to a secluded spot, thereafter, sexually assaulted and strangled her to death and then attempted to conceal the body among nearby shrubs. An FIR (Crime No. 71 of 2008) was registered at Wadi Police Station the same day. The Petitioner was arrested on 04.04.2008, and a charge-sheet was filed for offences under Sections 363 , 367, 376(2)(f), 302 and 201 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE , 18602[IPC].
3.2 On 29.09.2010 the Additional Sessions Judge, Nagpur, in Sessions Trial No. 252 of 20083[Trial Court] convicted the Petitioner under Sections 363 , 367, 376(2)(f), 302 and 201 of the IPC and, on the same day, imposed the death sentence on him. During the original trial, the Petitioner, who was unable to afford private counsel, was represented by legal-aid counsel whose absence on crucial dates resulted in four material witnesses remaining un-cross-examined.
3.3 In confirmation proceedings the High Court of Bombay, Nagpur Bench4[High Court], by judgment dated 24.03.2011, set aside the conviction and sentence on the ground that the Petitioner had been denied an effective defence, and remanded the matter for the limited purpose of cross-examining the said witnesses.
3.4 Upon remand, the same legal-aid counsel represented the Petitioner. The four witnesses were cross-examined, but counsel was absent at the hearing on sentence. By judgment dated 23.02.2012,
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