Accused's Psychological, Socio-Economic Status Have to Be Considered: Karnataka HC Issues Guidelines to Prosecution for Seeking Death Penalty

The Karnataka High Court recently issued a slew of guidelines to be followed in all cases where the prosecution seeks the death penalty. The division bench of Justices Suraj Govindaraj and Justice G Basavaraja directed that before the hearing on sentencing, the public prosecutor shall be required to place a report of the superintendent of jail regarding the accused’s conduct and behavior.

The court also ordered that a psychological and physiological evaluation of the accused shall also be done and a report shall be filed at the time when the death penalty is demanded to be imposed by the public prosecutor.

Moreover, the HC ordered that the report of the jurisdictional probation officer should contain the accused’s family background and details. The court said that the report of the probation officer must also mention whether there had been any history of violence or neglect against the accused in his family.

The court passed the order in an appeal filed by a man against the death penalty awarded to him in a murder case. The case of the prosecution was that on suspecting the fidelity of his wife, the man had murdered her, her sister, and her three minor children whom he had alleged that they were not his, with a chopper.

In the appeal, the counsel for the man argued that there were no witnesses to the murders and the case had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt against him before the trial court.

On the other hand, the public prosecutor submitted that after the incident, the man had himself declared that he had murdered his wife and had no regrets, which was deposed by several witnesses.

The high court found the man guilty of the five murders and upheld his conviction. However, on the question of confirmation of the death sentence, the court sought reports from all concerned authorities regarding the man’s mental health, social image, and background.

The HC noted that the IQ of the man was 93 whereas the physiatrist rating was 29, which was below the cut-off score, and though he had no personality disorder, he was emotionally disturbed and had mild depression.

However, the court highlighted that in the present matter, the reports regarding the evaluation of the man’s mental health and other factors were placed before the HC with a considerable delay.

Therefore, the court issued guidelines for public prosecutors in cases where they seek the imposition of capital punishment or the death penalty.