In Brief
The Supreme Court dismissed review petitions against a death sentence imposed on two accused for the kidnapping, rape, murder and disposal of two school-going children. The Court held that review was unjustified where the accused received adequate legal representation, made conscious attempts to retract confessions through elaborate written submissions, and where the residual doubt theory could not apply. The Court reaffirmed that death penalty may be awarded in cases based on circumstantial evidence and that dissenting opinions in split judgments do not carry special precedential value to overturn majority verdicts.
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