‘What determines rarest of rare case?’

What is the definition of young and old? On what basis is the brutality in a crime to decide if it was an act of immaturity or inexperience? This is the question the Bombay high court has posed to both the prosecution and the defence in the Pune BPO staffer rape and murder case before deferring till next week its order on the sentence

Delving into the definition of ‘rarest of rare’ clause in cases where death penalty is awarded, a division bench of Justices VM Kanade and PD Kode sought to know what the “deciding factor” to term a case as “rarest of rare” was. “Is it brutality or past criminal history,” Kode asked.

The mitigating circumstance of young age, first time offender and sole bread winner of the family are some of the factors that criminal courts consider while sentencing convicts in any crime.

The bench is hearing the case of Jyotikumari Choudhary, a Pune BPO employee for whose rape and murder two accused—Purshottam Dashrat Borate (26) and Pradeep Yashwant Kokade (20)—have been awarded the death penalty. While the high court has confirmed the duo’s conviction on all charges, it is yet to decide on the sentence.

Stating that there were several judgments of the apex court and other high courts on what defines a rarest of rare case, Justice Kode on Thursday, “But what will decide it as not to be a rarest of rare case are the mitigating circumstances, and those are to be made clear to us.” Following this, Kode asked both the prosecution and defence to inform the court on Monday about these questions irrespective of whether it is in their favour or not.

After recording its reasons for confirming the duo’s conviction, the court adjourned the hearing for Monday.