Patna: The Patna High Court has upheld the death sentence awarded to two men convicted of murdering three people in a violent land dispute in Bihar’s Rohtas district, describing the crime as one that shocked the collective conscience of society.
A division bench comprising Justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad and Justice Sourendra Pandey dismissed the criminal appeals filed by the convicts, Aman Singh and Sonal Singh, and affirmed the punishment imposed by the trial court.
In its 67-page judgment, the court held that the case fell squarely within the “rarest of rare” category, observing that life imprisonment would be inadequate given the brutality and circumstances of the crime. The killings took place in the Darihat police station area of Rohtas district.
The bench noted that the three victims were attacked with swords and murdered in a premeditated assault, leaving them no chance of survival. Rejecting arguments by the defence seeking commutation of the death sentence, the court said the aggravating factors far outweighed any mitigating circumstances.
Among the factors cited were the planned nature of the killings over a land dispute, the use of deadly weapons against unarmed victims and the devastating impact of the crime on the victims’ family. “Such acts demonstrate extreme depravity,” the court observed, adding that the offence had shaken social order and warranted the harshest punishment under law.
The judges also directed the District Legal Services Authority to ensure that the widows of the three deceased receive maximum compensation within one month.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Sourendra Pandey invoked an analogy from the Mahabharata, stating that those who kill their own relatives ultimately face destruction. He said the accused, having acted with calculated aggression, deserved the severest penalty prescribed by law.
