JUDGMENT

1. Bhawani Kori, aged 20 years, of Pahalwara, in the District of Bahraich, has been convicted by the learned Additional Sessions Judge of Bahraich of an offence of murder under Section 302, I.P.C., and sentenced to death subject to confirmation by this Court. He appeals. The reference in confirmation is also before us. This is a clear case of a deliberate and cold-blooded murder. The charge against the accused was that he murdered Ram Lal Dhobi, a. boy of about 10 years of age, on 26th May 1932, in Tansiya Nala for the sake of his silver ornaments valued at Rs. 4-4-0. Ram Lal was the son of Sat-tan Dhobi of Pahalwara. The evidence on the record shows that the boy Ram Lal or his parents had asked the accused for a wooden handle for a khurpi (a weeding knife). The accused came to their house on 26th May in the afternoon and took away the boy with him saying that he would get the handle fitted to the khurpi. At that time the boy was wearing a pair of silver bangles and a silver " dhurwa " (an ornament for the neck). This took place in the afternoon at about 5 p. m. When it grew late, the parents of Ram Lal became anxious and went out in search of the boy in the evening. They found no trace of the boy and returned home after nightfall. The next morning they went out again in search of the boy and when they were returning they saw the dead body of the boy lying in the Tansiya Nala at the distance of about one and half miles from their village Pahalwara. The silver ornaments and the cap which Ram Lal was wearing at the time he left his house were not on the dead body. There were some marks of injury also on the body. Sattan immediately proceeded to the police station at Payagpur and made the report Ex. 1 there at about noon. The place where the offence was committed was some five miles from the police station. Bhawani was named in the report as the murderer of the boy. The police investigation started without any unnecessary delay.

2. The accused was not seen in the village from the time he took away the boy Ram Lal. He was arrested at Katgarah on 28th May 1932. In consequence of the information given by the accused the Police Sub-Inspector recovered the silver ornaments and the cap of the boy from Ram Lal at Katghara. He (accused) took the police to a field and there dug out the ornaments which were wrapped in the cap. He made over the ornaments to the Police Sub-Inspector in the presence of Ambika Prasad (P.W. 10) and others. The accused made a confession before Mr. Mathur, Magistrate, First Class, Bahraich (P.W. 13) on 31st May 1932. He was taken to the Magistrate on 29th May 1932, but the learned Magistrate sent him to jail and recorded the confession on 31st May 1932. His confession was thus recorded two days after he was taken to the Magistrate for recording the confession. (The judgment then stated the contents of the confession and the statement of the accused before the committing Magistrate and after considering the evidence proceeded). In our opinion the learned Additional Sessions Judge and three out of the four assessors were perfectly right in convicting the accused under Section 302, I.P.C. The learned Judge sentenced the accused to death finding no extenuating circumstances in the case. The appellant's learned Counsel has argued before us that having regard to the age of the accused (20 years) the ends of justice will be met in this case by sentencing the accused to the lessor of the two sentences allowed by law. In our opinion there are no extenuating circumstances in the case and youth is no sufficient excuse for a deliberate and cold-blooded murder. A man who is old enough to take part in a murder of this kind is old enough to be hanged.

3. As pointed out by a Bench of this Court in the case of Emperor v. Baghwan Din, AIR 1931 Oudh 89, there is no law which justifies a Court in not passing a sentence of death on any person merely because he is young. All persons who can understand the nature of their act a