IMPORTANT POINT
The judgment underscores the necessity of direct evidence for abetment charges and the application of the rarest of rare doctrine in death penalty cases.

JUDGMENT :

(Alok Kumar Verma, J.) :

The Criminal Reference and these three Appeals have arisen from a common judgment and order dated 22.03.2022/26.03.2022, passed by learned Additional District and Sessions Judge/Special Judge POCSO, Haridwar in Special Sessions Trial No. 27 of 2021, “State vs. Ramtirath Yadav and two Others.”

2. The appellant-accused Ramtirath Yadav has been convicted for the offence punishable under Sections 363, 366-A, 376-A, 376-AB, 377, 302, 201 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short, “IPC”) and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (in short, “Act, 2012”).

3. Appellant-accused Rajiv Kumar has been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 201 IPC and Section 17 of the Act, 2012.

4. Learned Trial Court has awarded death sentence to the appellant-Ramtirath Yadav for the offence under Section 302 IPC and a fine of Rs.50,000/- and in view of Section 42 of the Act, 2012, under Section 6 of the Act, 2012 along with a fine of Rs.50,000/-. He has been ordered to be hanged till death. Learned Trial Court has referred the matter to this Court for confirmation of the same in terms of the provisions of Section 366 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short, “Code”).

5. Appellant-accused Ramtirath Yadav has been further sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years along with a fine of Rs. 10,000/- for the offence punishable under Section 363 IPC and in default of payment of fine, he has been directed to undergo further imprisonment for a period of two months. He has been sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of ten years and a fine of Rs. 10,000/- for the offence under Section 366-A IPC and in default of payment of fine, he has been directed to undergo further imprisonment for a period of two months. He has been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs. 50,000/- for the offence under Section 377 IPC and in default of payment of fine to further undergo for six months, and, he has been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of seven years along with a fine of Rs. 10,000/- for the offence under Section 201 IPC and in default of payment of fine, he has been directed to undergo further imprisonment for a period of three months.

6. Appellant-accused Rajiv Kumar has been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of five years and a fine of Rs. 50,000/- for the offence under Section 201 IPC and in default of payment of fine, he has been directed to undergo further imprisonment for a period of six months. He has been further sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of five years along with a fine of Rs. 50,000/- for the offence under Section 17 of the Act, 2012 and in default of payment of fine to further undergo for six months.

7. All the sentences have been directed to run concurrently.

8. Giving benefit of doubt to one accused Gambhir Chand alias Gaurav, the trial court has acquitted him of the charge of Section 212 IPC.

9. The victim has filed the Criminal Appeal No. 493 of 2023 against the appellant-accused Rajiv Kumar under the proviso to Section 372 of the Code on the ground of inadequacy of sentence.

10. The Criminal Reference will be treated as a leading case.

11. Briefly stated the prosecution case as it emerges from re-appreciation of the evidence on record is that the minor daughter of the informant was missing since 3.30 p.m. on 20.12.2020. Appellant Ramtirath Yadav resided in the house of the appellant Rajiv for about three-four years. The minor daughter of the informant was last seen with the appellant Ramtirath Yadav. The police took the appellant Ramtirath Yadav to the police station for interrogation. When the lock of the room located on the second floor of the house was opened after getting the key from the appellant Ramtirath Yadav from the police station, the dead body of the informant’s minor daughter was found in that room.

12. Sub-Inspector Laxmi Manola (PW14) was asked by