The Delhi High Court observed today that any leniency shown in awarding sentence in cases of "horrendous" crime of extreme brutality will have "devastating effect" on justice system, while upholding the death sentence of four convicts in the December 16 gangrape and murder case.
Writing a separate but concurring verdict, Justice Pratibha Rani, one of the judges of a bench headed by Justice Reva Khetrapal, said the "cruel acts" committed by convicts deserved appropriate sentence and if such punishment is not awarded, the justice system would be "rendered suspect".
"The cruel acts committed by the convicts are such that if appropriate sentence is not awarded, rage of the society would not be satisfied and our justice system would be rendered suspect. This would be having devastating effect as common man will lose faith in the courts.
"Any leniency shown in the matter would not only be misplaced but would give rise to a feeling of private revenge among the people leading to lawlessness in the society. The Court would not like such a situation to prevail. The victim has been subjected to such a cruelty which is extremely brutal, inhuman and unheard of," Justice Rani said.
"....This is a case where not only to deter others from committing such atrocious crimes but also to give emphatic expression to society's abhorrence of such crimes, death penalty needs to be confirmed," the court said.
The court, in its 340-page judgement, confirmed the death reference of Delhi government and simultaneously, rejected the appeals of four surviving convicts, Akshay Thakur (29), Vinay Sharma (21), Pawan Gupta (20) and Mukesh (27).
