Bombay HC commutes death penalty awarded to Kolhapur sisters convicted for killing 9 children
A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal cited the inordinate delay in disposing of their mercy petitions to commute their death penalty.
FollowThe Bombay High Court Tuesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit, who were convicted for kidnapping 13 children, killing some of them and using the others as cover to snatch purses and chains between 1990 and 1996.
A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal cited the inordinate delay in disposing of their mercy petitions to commute their death penalty.
However, the Bench refused to release them forthwith, as prayed by them since they have already spent 25 years behind bars, observing that the “crime committed by them is heinous” and “the brutality with which the children were murdered is beyond words to condemn”.
The death sentences of the duo, Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit of Kolhapur, were confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2006. The state government supported granting the death sentences.
While commuting the life sentence, the HC has rapped the state government for the delay on its part in sending their mercy petition to the President of India, who had subsequently rejected the same.
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“State machinery showed laxity and indifference,” the court said. It added that the state represents the interest of society in the criminal justice system. “The respondent state has not only violated constitutional rights of the petitioners, but also failed the innocent victims of serious crimes,” the Bench said.
The judges even observed that the delay was unjust and it failed the victims. “This (delay) is not only a violation of constitutional rights of the convicts but also failed the innocent victims,” added the judges.
The HC also cited the Supreme Court order, which while upholding their death sentence, said that their plea was being dismissed as “they are a menace to the society”.
The sisters were arrested in November 1996 while their mother Anjana, a co-accused, died of illness in 1998. The sisters were convicted by the sessions court in June 2001 and the High Court had upheld their conviction in September 2004.
The sisters were arrested in November 1996 while their mother Anjana, a co-accused, died of illness in 1998. The sisters were convicted by the sessions court in June 2001 and the High Court had upheld their conviction in September 2004.
