The direct witness testimony, corroborated by medical reports, confirms the convict's intention in committing multiple murders, justifying capital punishment, while also considering potential for rehabilitation which resulted in the sentence being commuted to life imprisonment.

JUDGMENT :

B.P. ROUTRAY, J.

1. Present death sentence reference along with the criminal appeal are arising out of out of the impugned judgment and conviction dated 24^th April 2024, convicting the condemned prisoner Nanda @ Niranjan Mallik. He is convicted for commission of offence under Sections 302 , 307, 325, 326, 458 of the IPC and sentenced to capital punishment along with imprisonment for different descriptions and fine. The sentencing part is classified in the following manner:

(i) Sentenced to death for committing offence of murder punishable under Section 302 , IPC and to pay a fine of Rs.50,000/- and in default, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year.

(ii) Sentenced to rigorous imprisonment till end of life and to pay a fine of Rs.50,000/- for commission of offence of attempt to murder punishable under Section 307 of the IPC. In default to pay the fine amount to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for one year.

(iii) Sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- for commission of offence of grievous hurt punishable under Section 325 , IPC. In default to pay the fine amount to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months.

(iv) Sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of ten years and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- for causing grievous hurt punishable under Section 326 , IPC. In default to pay the fine amount to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months more.

(v) Sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- of committing lurking house trespass punishable under Section 458 of the IPC. In default to pay the fine amount to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months more.

2. According to prosecution case, the occurrence took place in a sequence on the intervening night of 16^th and 17^th January 2019 started from around 2:00 AM till early morning at different places of Odagaon Town.

3. Odagaon in the district of Nayagarh is a small Sub-Divisional town and the convict, as well as all the victims are residents of said area. In a complete sequence, the convict committed murder of two persons namely, Lochan Sethi (Male) and Badani Pradhan (Female) and injured three more persons namely, Sulochana Pradhan (Female), Amulya Barik (Female) and Dambaru (Male). The deceased, Lochan, was working as a Night Watchman in the vegetable market at Odagaon. On the fateful night intervening between 16^th and 17^th January 2019, while Lochan was performing his night duty in the vegetable market, the convict all of a sudden appeared with a piece of wooden plank and suddenly hit on his head and other parts of the body. The other watchman (P.W.9) of adjacent Ganesh market rushed towards the spot and then Niranjan (convict) fled away from there. After some time then, when deceased Badani was sweeping front portion of his house, which situates within the compounded premises of Sanjibnee Clinic at Odagaon, the convict suddenly appeared there scaling the wall at around 3:00 PM and dealt a blow on her head. The deceased fell in a pool of blood and died at the spot. Hearing her shout, her daughter Sulochana, who was bathing nearby, rushed shouting at the convict. But she wa