On Monday, the SC called upon the constitution bench to set guidelines on providing a meaningful hearing to the accused before coming to a decision where the death penalty is the only punishment to be given.
The bench was led by CJI Lalit and comprised Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia, who said, “The court is of the opinion that it is necessary to have clarity in the matter to ensure a uniform approach on the question of granting real and meaningful opportunity, as opposed to a formal hearing, to the accused/convict, on the issue of sentence.”
It also added, “Whereas the accused can scarcely be expected to place mitigating circumstances in the record, for the reason that the stage for doing so is after conviction. This places the convict at a hopeless disadvantage, titling the scales heavily on him,” as quoted by the Hindustan Times.
