Supreme Court Reduces Death Sentence to 25 Years in 2016 Child Murder Case

The Supreme Court has substituted a 25-year jail term without remission for the death sentence of Sambhubhai Raisangbhai Padhiyar, convicted in a 2016 child sexual assault and murder case. The court considered mitigating factors and noted possibilities for reformation, preventing a rarest of rare death sentence classification.

The Supreme Court has commuted the death sentence in the infamous 2016 case involving the sexual assault and murder of a four-year-old in Gujarat. The apex court ruled on Tuesday, replacing the death penalty with a 25-year imprisonment term without the possibility of remission.

A bench that included Justices B R Gavai, Aravind Kumar, and K V Viswanathan highlighted the crime's diabolical nature. However, they observed that the potential for reformation was not entirely dismissed, considering the convict's background and behavior in prison.

The judgement overturns the Gujarat High Court's 2019 decision, maintaining the conviction but arguing the crime does not fall under the 'rarest of rare' category to warrant a death sentence. This case underscores significant judicial discourse on sentence proportionality and reformation potential in capital cases.

(With inputs from agencies.)