Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has commuted the death sentence of a man convicted for the murder of two persons in Nayagarh district around six years ago to imprisonment for the rest of his life.
A division bench of Justices B P Routray and Chittaranjan Dash upheld Niranjan Mallick’s conviction on Tuesday but held that the case did not merit the death penalty, citing the possibility of the convict’s reformation and his otherwise clean record, TNIE reported.
The man was sentenced to death by the court of Additional Sessions Judge at Odagaon on April 24, 2024. The trial court had termed the case as one of the ‘rarest of rare’, pointing to the brutality of the crime that created widespread fear among locals. Niranjan had killed two persons in a drunken state at Odagaon on January 17, 2019.
The case had sent shockwaves across Odisha, prompting the state government to announce an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh each to the families of the two deceased.
The high court, however, took a different view while considering both the state’s plea for confirmation of the death sentence and Mallick’s criminal appeal.
In its judgment, the court noted, “It is well-settled law that the possibility of reformation and rehabilitation of the convict is an important factor. The convict hails from a poor economic background and has no previous criminal record. Reports from the jail authorities indicate good behaviour and cordial conduct with inmates.”
Taking into consideration the report of the jail authority in entirety, it cannot be said that there is no possibility of the convict being performed and rehabilitated, foreclosing the alternative of lesser sentence, the court said in its order.
