Every sinner has a future
The bench comprising Justice UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and Bela M Trivedi in their judgement dated 20 April 2022 quoted Oscar Wilde, “Every Sinner has a future” to justify their decision.
They cancelled the death sentence of the accused that was awarded by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2014 u/s 376 IPC for rape and murder of a 4-year-old girl child.
The Supreme Court commuted the death sentence to imprisonment for life because they believed that the maximum punishment awarded as per law, in their opinion, was not always best for repairing the psyche of the offender. They Bench believed that an opportunity should be given to the accused to repair the damage caused (?), and to become a socially useful individual when he is released from jail.
They believed in balancing the scales between Retributive Justice and Reformative Justice.