Article 32 can be used to reopen sentence in case of death row convicts: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said a person on death row cannot be deprived of the fundamental rights to equal treatment, individualised sentencing, and fair procedure that Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution secure to every person.

A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Vikram Nath said that Article 32 of the Constitution empowered the court to reopen sentencing in cases of capital punishment on grounds of breach of procedural safeguards.

The court decided to rehear a plea filed by Vasant Sampat Dupare from Nagpur, convicted of raping and killing a four-year-old in April 2008. His review petition against the November 26, 2014, verdict was dismissed by the apex court on May 3, 2017.

He filed mercy petitions before the Maharashtra governor and the president, which were rejected in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The bench, also comprising justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta, decided to hear again a death row convict, Dupare’s plea, while allowing his plea filed under Article 32 of the Constitution.

The court also referred to the 2022 verdict in the case of Manoj Vs Madhya Pradesh.

The bench said it had issued several guidelines and mandated the trial courts to collect the accused's psychiatric and psychological evaluation report before awarding death.

"This corrective power is invoked precisely to compel rigorous application of the safeguards laid down……thereby ensuring that the condemned person is not deprived of the fundamental rights to equal treatment, individualised sentencing, and fair procedure that Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution secure to every person," the bench said.

The court, however, clarified the exceptional scope of Article 32 cannot be permitted to become a routine pathway for reopening concluded matters.

“Reopening will be reserved for only those cases where there is a clear, specific breach of the new procedural safeguards, as these breaches are so serious that if left uncorrected, they would undermine the accused person's basic rights like dignity and fair process," the court said.

The bench maintained the conviction in the case but set aside the 2017 view taken on the petitioner's sentence.

The court ordered for placing the matter before Chief Justice of India B R Gavai for hearing the matter afresh.