Criminal history of a convict alone no ground for death penalty: SC

WHILE commuting a convict's capital punishment in connection with a 2003 political murder in an Uttar Pradesh village, the Supreme Court observed that the criminal history of a convict cannot by itself be a ground for the court to award him the death penalty.

- JAISON WILSON

Considering the age of the convict - Madan, a 64-year-old man who has been serving jail term for 18 years and three months a bench of Justices BR Gavai, BV Nagarathna and PS Narasimha also held that old age is a mitigating circumstance in his favour.

The top court, however, said that the convict has to serve at least 20 years in jail as part of his life-imprisonment sentence before he could be considered for release.