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Supreme Court of India 2021-12-09 partly_allowed

BHAGCHANDRA vs STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

Bench: 3 — L. Nageswara Rao, B.R. Gavai, B.V. Nagarathna

In Brief

A man was convicted of murdering his two brothers and nephew in a property dispute. The eyewitnesses—the wife and children of the deceased—testified to witnessing the attacks with an axe. Although the trial court imposed death penalty, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction but commuted the sentence to 30-year life imprisonment. The Court found the eyewitness evidence credible despite minor inconsistencies. However, it held that death penalty was not warranted as the appellant had no prior criminal history, showed good conduct in jail, and had prospects for reformation—factors that must be weighed equally with the gravity of the crime.

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Criminal Law Evidence Law Capital Punishment Sentencing Murder Mitigating Circumstances Witness Credibility

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