JUDGMENT :

Shree Chandrashekhar, J.

This case is about abduction of two persons for ransom - one has survived the murderous assault and the other one is still traceless.

2. Long before, in the year 1971 the Law Commission of India made a recommendation for making kidnapping or abduction for ransom an aggravated form of the offence of kidnapping for ransom which was punishable with rigorous imprisonment upto 14 years and fine. The Parliament has shown considerable concern in dealing with the offence of kidnapping for ransom. By Act of 42 of 1993, section 364-A was inserted into the Indian Penal Code with effect from 22.05.1993 which has provided punishment of death. The death penalty is retained in the penal Statutes in very few countries in the world - India is one. There are 14 offences in the Indian Penal Code which are made punishable by death and as an alternative thereto imprisonment for life. The death penalty provided under section 364-A is remarkable in the sense that even in a case where the kidnapping has not resulted in the death of the victim the Courts for "special reasons" can award death penalty upon the accused. In Vikram Singh v. Union of India, (2015) 9 SCC 502 the H