SC stays death order of two in murder case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the execution of death penalty of two persons accused of murdering a man in Shimoga district, Karnataka, in 2005.
A Bench comprising justices V S Sirpurkar and T S Thakur granted the special leave petition filed by Madhu and Rafiq and put on hold the award of capital punishment to them. Another person, Jayanna, was also awarded death penalty in the case.
Advocate N D B Raju, appearing for the duo, assailed the Karnataka High Court’s order confirming the death penalty awarded to Madhu, Rafiq and Jayanna last year.
The three were sentenced to the gallows for allegedly strangulating K Madhusudan with an iron wire after abducting him from Anandpura in Shimoga in August, 2005.
The accused allegedly robbed the victim of Rs 4 lakh and they beheaded him and buried the trunk in a forest before throwing it in Nandi river. “The facts in hand are not one of the rarest of rare as held by the apex court in many number of recent cases to award capital punishment. In the case, the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.
The counsel further said the high court had gone on to confirm the death penalty even though the sessions court in Shimoga clearly noted that the exact role of each accused was not proved.
