BPO Employee Rape, Murder Case: SC Upholds Bombay HC Order Commuting Convict’s Death Penalty To Life

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Bombay High Court’s decision to commute the death penalty of two convicts in the 2007 Pune BPO employee gang-rape and murder case to a life term of 35 years.

The decision was based on the “undue, inordinate, and unreasonable” delay in carrying out the execution.

A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and Augustine George Masih dismissed the Maharashtra government’s appeal against the Bombay High Court’s July 2019 ruling.

Case Background

The crime occurred on November 1, 2007, when a 22-year-old Wipro BPO employee boarded a company cab in Pune for her night shift. Cab driver Purushottam Borate, along with his accomplice Pradeep Kokade, deviated from the assigned route. They took her to a remote location, raped her, and strangled her with her dupatta. The duo disfigured her face in an attempt to conceal her identity.

A sessions court in March 2012 convicted the men and sentenced them to death, a punishment later upheld by the Bombay High Court in September 2012 and the Supreme Court in May 2015.

Delay in Execution

Although their execution was scheduled for June 24, 2019, the Bombay High Court intervened three days prior, staying the execution pending further orders. On July 29, 2019, the court allowed the convicts’ petitions, citing an unexplained and unreasonable delay in processing their mercy pleas and executing the sentence.

The high court noted that both the state and central governments had failed to address the convicts’ mercy petitions and final execution with urgency. The judgment emphasized that the protection guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, which ensures the right to life and personal liberty, extends even to convicts on death row.

Judgment Highlights

The Bombay High Court observed that the execution process had been mishandled:
– The state government did not take proactive steps beyond writing to the sessions court for fixing an execution date.
– The delay was attributed to lapses in coordination and urgency by both state and central authorities.

The court concluded that such delays violated the fundamental rights of the convicts and could not be justified. Considering the time already served by the convicts in prison, the high court commuted their death sentence to life imprisonment with a mandatory period of 35 years without remission.

Supreme Court’s Decision

The Supreme Court upheld the Bombay High Court’s rationale, dismissing the Maharashtra government’s challenge.

The case remains a stark reminder of the importance of addressing procedural lapses and delays in the judicial and executive processes, especially in capital punishment cases.

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