In Brief
Dnyaneshwar Suresh Borkar was convicted of murdering a minor child for ransom and sentenced to death. The High Court confirmed both the conviction and death sentence. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction for offences under Sections 302, 364, 201 read with Section 34 IPC, but commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment. The Court found that despite the offence's brutal nature, the case did not fall within the 'rarest of rare' category. Mitigating factors—including the appellant's young age (22 years) at the time, 18 years already spent in prison with exemplary conduct, completion of graduation, and demonstrated reformation—outweighed the aggravating circumstances, warranting commutation.
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