Published on: October 25, 2023 at 10:22 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: C. Muniappan V. State of T.N. (2016)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that the laid emphasis that Mens Rae is an essential factor to award harsh punishment upon the accused by the Hon’ble Court. It is held that if the act of crime was not premediated or planned then such circumstances must be for awarding the extreme punishment.
11. We have considered the matter in its entirety. We have taken note of the views expressed by this Court in the decisions referred to earlier. We have noticed that the acts attributed to the review petitioner-accused leading to the death of the three innocent girl students of the university were committed in the course of a mob frenzy which started with destruction of public property.
The intent of the mob including the review petitioner-accused, all along, was to cause damage to public property in order to show their resentment and protest against the conviction of the political leader in question.
The victims were unknown persons; there was no premeditation or planning and all that had occurred had so occurred in the flash of a moment. Keeping in mind the totality of the circumstances narrated above, which does not appear to have received due consideration in the judgment under review, we deem it proper to take the view that the present is not a fit case for awarding the extreme punishment. Rather, the ends of justice would be met by imposing the punishment of life imprisonment.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra