In cases of murder, the court must consider mitigating circumstances, such as the accused's young age, first offense, absence of premeditation or planning, and lack of evidence of depravity or cold-blooded murder, in determining whether the death penalty is an appropriate sentence.

1. - The Additional Sessions Judge, Karauli has made a reference, being D.B. Criminal Death Reference No.2/2014, for confirming the death sentence awarded to the accused, Raju, by judgment dated 11.12.2014. By the said judgment the learned Judge has convicted the appellant, Raju, for offences under Sections 302, 307 and 323 IPC. By an order of even date, the learned Judge has sentenced him as under:-

U/s. 302 IPC: Death sentence, imposed with a fine of Rs. 1 Lac, and directed to further undergo simple imprisonment of two months, in default thereof.

U/s. 307 IPC: Ten years of rigorous imprisonment, imposed with a fine of Rs. 50,000/-, and directed to further undergo simple imprisonment of one month, in default thereof.

U/s. 323 IPC: One year of rigorous imprisonment.

2. By the same judgment dated 11.12.2014, the learned Judge has also convicted another co-accused, namely Naval Kishore, for offences under Sections 302/34, 307/34 and 323/34 IPC, and sentenced him as under:-

U/s. 302/34 IPC: Life imprisonment, imposed with a fine of Rs. 1 Lac, and directed to further undergo simple imprisonment of two months, in default thereof.

U/s. 307/34 IPC: Ten years of rigorous imprisonment, imposed with a fine of Rs. 50,000/-, and directed to further undergo simple imprisonment of one month, in default thereof.

U/s. 323/34 IPC: One year of rigorous imprisonment.

3. Aggrieved by the aforesaid judgment dated 11.12.2014, Raju has filed a regular appeal, namely D.B. Criminal Appeal No.23/2015, and a Jail appeal, namely D.B. Criminal (Jail) Appeal No.63/2015, before this court. Similarly, aggrieved by the same judgment, Naval Kishore has preferred an appeal, namely D.B. Criminal Appeal No.22/2015, before this court. Since the Criminal Death Reference, and the three criminal appeals filed by the accused persons challenge the same impugned judgment, therefore, they are being decided by this common judgment.

4. Briefly, the case of the prosecution is that on 5.10.2011, Jitesh (P.W. 4) submitted a written report (Ex.P. 3) before the Police Station Kotwali, Karauli which when translated into English reads as under:-

To,

The SHO,

Police Station Karauli Kotwali,

District Karauli.

Sir,

It is humbly submitted that on 4.10.2011 around 7:20 PM, I, my elder brother, Rahul, aged 22 years, both my sisters, Shalu, 14 years, and Madhuri, 16 years, and my grand-father, Manohar Singh, boarded a train from Agra Fort for the purpose of paying our homage to Kaila Devi. Around 1:30 AM, at night, we got down at the Hindon Station. There a person was soliciting passengers for taking them by bus to the temple of Kaila Devi. I asked him about the ticket fare. He told me that for the devotees of Kaila Devi, the service is free. He not only asked us, but also asked a lot of other persons from Agra to sit in the bus. We sat in a bus bearing registration No. RJ14-PB-9020. There were about 70-80 passengers in the bus. The bus driver started the bus. On Dholpur Road, before reaching Karauli, the bus driver stopped the bus in a jungle and asked all of us to pay the passenger fare. He took Rs. 40/- from each one of us. We also asked him as to why he is robbing us like this. There was no conductor in the bus. He brought the bus to Karauli and at Hathi Ghata Petrol Pump he told all of us to get down from the bus. One of the passengers slapped the driver as the bus driver refused to take us any further. But subsequently, we got down from the bus and started to walk. We were divided in small groups and were walking on the side of the road. With an intention to kill us, the bus driver hit us with the bus. Whomever he could find, he hit the persons with the bus. This incident had occurred at 4:00 O'clock in the morning. In this incident, my brother, Rahul, Sindhi S/o. Sheetal, r/o. Barah Khamba, Agra, and four other persons died on the spot. Moreover, Bantu S/o. Vijay, Malna W/o. Vijay, r/o. Asat Gali, Tajganj, Agra, Narendra S/o. Man Singh Eta Wale, r/o. Near Bus Stand, Bijli Ghar, Agra, L