{"id":31231,"date":"1971-01-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1971-01-26T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/vivian-rodrick-vs-state-of-west-bengal-on-27-january-1971"},"modified":"2017-11-20T02:15:50","modified_gmt":"2017-11-19T20:45:50","slug":"vivian-rodrick-vs-state-of-west-bengal-on-27-january-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/vivian-rodrick-vs-state-of-west-bengal-on-27-january-1971","title":{"rendered":"Vivian Rodrick vs State Of West Bengal on 27 January, 1971"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Vivian Rodrick vs State Of West Bengal on 27 January, 1971<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_citations\">Equivalent citations: 1971 AIR 1584, \t\t  1971 SCR  (3) 546<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: S Sikri<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: Sikri, S.M. (Cj)<\/div>\n<pre>           PETITIONER:\nVIVIAN RODRICK\n\n\tVs.\n\nRESPONDENT:\nSTATE OF WEST BENGAL\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT27\/01\/1971\n\nBENCH:\nSIKRI, S.M. (CJ)\nBENCH:\nSIKRI, S.M. (CJ)\nREDDY, P. JAGANMOHAN\nDUA, I.D.\n\nCITATION:\n 1971 AIR 1584\t\t  1971 SCR  (3) 546\n 1971 SCC  (1) 468\n CITATOR INFO :\n R\t    1974 SC1039\t (6)\n RF\t    1977 SC2096\t (22)\n E&amp;D\t    1989 SC1335\t (60)\n\n\nACT:\nCriminal Law-Sentence of death-Inordinate delay in disposing\nof  appeal  by\tHigh Court-If  ground  for  awarding  lesser\nsentence.\n\n\n\nHEADNOTE:\n The  accused  was committed to trial in July  1963  and  was\n convicted and sentenced to death on September 4, 1964.\t  The\n appeal\t to  the  High Court under s. 411A,  Cr.   P.C.,  was\n finally dismissed on February 6, 1970.\t The High Court\t left\n it  to\t the State Government whether it  should  reduce  the\n sentence on account of inordinate delay.\n In appeal to this Court on the question of sentence,\n HELD  :  Section  302,\t I.P.C.,  prescribes  two   alternate\n sentences, namely, death sentence or imprisonment for\tlife.\n When there has been inordinate delay in the disposal of  the\n appeal\t by the High Court, it is a relevant factor  for  the\n High  Court  to  take into consideration  for\timposing  the\n lesser sentence. [549 A-B]\n In  the  present case, the appellant has been\tfor  6\tyears\n under the fear of sentence of death, which must have  caused\n him  unimaginable  mental agony.  In view of  the  excessive\n delay\tit  is a fit case for awarding\tthe  lesser  sentence\n instead of leaving it to the Government to decide the matter\n on a mercy petition. [549 B-D]\n Nawab Singh v. State of U.P., A.I.R. 1954 S.C. 278, referred\n to.\n\n\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p> CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 137  of<br \/>\n 1970.\n<\/p>\n<p> Appeal\t by special leave from the judgment and\t order\tdated<br \/>\n February  6,  1970 of the Calcutta High  Court\t in  Criminal<br \/>\n Appeal No. 5 of 1964.\n<\/p>\n<p> O.   P. Rana, for the appellant.\n<\/p>\n<p> S.   P. Mitra and Sukumar Basu, for the respondent.<br \/>\n The Judgment of the Court was delivered by<br \/>\n Sikri,\t C.J. In this case special leave was limited  to  the<br \/>\n question of sentence only The relevant facts for determining<br \/>\n this  point are as follows : The appellant, Vivian  Rodrick,<br \/>\n was tried by the High Court of Calcutta, in exercise of  its<br \/>\n original  jurisdiction, having been committed to  stand  his<br \/>\n trial\tby  the Presidency Magistrate as early\tas  July  31,<br \/>\n 1963.\t The substance of the charges against  the  appellant<br \/>\n were as follows :\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\"> 547<\/span><\/p>\n<p> (i)  that on January 13, 1963 the appellant was a member  of<br \/>\n an  unlawful  assembly guilty of rioting,  being  armed-with<br \/>\n deadly\t weapons  and as such punishable under\tsection\t 148,<br \/>\n I.P.C.;\n<\/p>\n<p> (ii)that  on  January 13, 1963 the appellant  committed  the<br \/>\n murder\t of  one Vincent D&#8217;Rozaric and thereby\tcommitted  an<br \/>\n offence punishable under section 302, I.P.C.; and\n<\/p>\n<p> (iii)that  on\tJanuary 13, 1963 the  appellant\t was  in<br \/>\n possession  of explosive substances for unlawful object  and<br \/>\n thereby  committed  an\t offence  under\t section  5  of\t  the<br \/>\n Explosive Substances Act.\n<\/p>\n<p> Four  other persons, Stanley Rodrick, Ranjit  Mandal,\tSimon<br \/>\n Das  and  Ranjit  Biswas were also tried  jointly  with  the<br \/>\n appellant and ,convicted under S. 302 read with S. 149,  and<br \/>\n also  under  s. 148, I.P.C. The jury  returned\t a  unanimous<br \/>\n verdict of guilty against the appellant and on September  4,<br \/>\n 1964  the Presiding Judge convicted the appellant  under  s.<br \/>\n 302,  I.P.C., and sentenced him to death.  At the trial  the<br \/>\n appellant  was\t also convicted for offences  under  s.\t 148,<br \/>\n I.P.C.,  and  s.  5 of the  Explosive\tSubstances  Act,  and<br \/>\n sentenced to, rigorous imprisonment for two years and\tthree<br \/>\n years respectively.  The terms of imprisonment were directed<br \/>\n to run concurrently.\n<\/p>\n<p> The appellant filed a petition of appeal under s. 411A,  Cr.<br \/>\n P.C.,\ton September 7, 1964, challenging his conviction  and<br \/>\n the  sentences\t imposed  on him.  The\tHigh  Court,  by  its<br \/>\n judgment  dated September 19, 1967 in Criminal Appeal No.  5<br \/>\n of 1964, confirmed the- conviction and sentences imposed  on<br \/>\n the appellant.\t In considering the question of sentence  the<br \/>\n High Court observed that &#8220;the murder was a premeditated  and<br \/>\n cold-blooded  one.  There was not the slightest  provocation<br \/>\n from  the side of the deceased.  This is undoubtedly  a  fit<br \/>\n case  for  capital punishment.\t No question of\t showing  any<br \/>\n leniency  on the ground of tenderness of age arises  as  the<br \/>\n appellant  is now aged about 35 years.&#8221; It was urged  before<br \/>\n the High Court that the sentence of death should be  reduced<br \/>\n to  rigorous  imprisonment for life on account of  the\t long<br \/>\n delay that had taken place in hearing the appeal.   Although<br \/>\n the  High  Court  regretted the  delay\t and  the  consequent<br \/>\n mental\t suffering  undergone by the condemned\tprisoner,  it<br \/>\n felt that the &#8220;delay in executing the death sentence was not<br \/>\n by  itself  a sufficient ground for which the\tcourt  should<br \/>\n exercise  its jurisdiction to commute the death sentence  to<br \/>\n one of imprisonment for life.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p> The  appellant sought leave to appeal to this Court  against<br \/>\n the judgment of the High Court on October 21, 1967, and  the<br \/>\n same<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\"> 548<\/span><br \/>\n was  refused  on January 8, 1968.  Having  obtained  special<br \/>\n leave, the appellant filed an appeal to this Court (Criminal<br \/>\n Appeal\t No. 190 of 1968).  By its judgment dated  April  30,<br \/>\n 1969, this Court set aside the the judgment and order of the<br \/>\n High  Court,  dated  September 19, 1967,  and\tremanded  the<br \/>\n appeal\t to the High Court for fresh disposal and hearing  in<br \/>\n accordance  with  law and in the light of  the\t observations<br \/>\n contained  in\tthis  Court&#8217;s judgment.\t This  Court  in  its<br \/>\n judgment  in Cr.  Ap.\tNo. 190 of 1968\t observed,  regarding<br \/>\n the four other co-accused, as follows<br \/>\n &#8220;Though the conviction was for an offence under section  302<br \/>\n read with section 149, I.P.C., curiously they were sentenced<br \/>\n to   varying  terms  of  imprisonment,\t and  none  of\t them<br \/>\n challenged their conviction in appeals.&#8221;<br \/>\n On  remand the appeal was again dismissed by the High\tCourt<br \/>\n on  February  6, 1970.\t Chakrabarti, J., with\tWhom  Amaresh<br \/>\n Chandra  Roy, J., agreed, again considered the\t question  of<br \/>\n Sentence  and held that although there had been a  delay  of<br \/>\n more  than five years in executing the death  sentence\t that<br \/>\n was  not  by its,&#8211;If sufficient ground  for  commuting  the<br \/>\n death sentence.  The High Court referred to <a href=\"\/doc\/300183\/\">Nawab Singh  v.<br \/>\n The  State  of\t Uttar Pradesh<\/a>(&#8220;) and Piare  Dusadh  v.\t King<br \/>\n EMperor(2).  As the High Court did not find any  extenuating<br \/>\n circumstances\twhatsoever that &#8216;would .justify its taking  a<br \/>\n lenient view in the matter, it left to the State  Government<br \/>\n to  take a decision as to whether it should, on  account  of<br \/>\n inordinate  delay  in executing the sentence,\texercise  its<br \/>\n powers under S. 402, Cr.  P.C.\n<\/p>\n<p> The  learned  counsel for the appellant  contends  that  the<br \/>\n matter\t should not have been left to the  <a href=\"\/doc\/300183\/\">State  Government.<br \/>\n In  Nawab Singh v. The State of Uttar Pradesh<\/a>(&#8220;), which  has<br \/>\n been  referred\t to by the High Court in its  judgment\tdated<br \/>\n February 6, 1970, it is observed<br \/>\n &#8220;It is true that in proper cases an inordinate delay in  the<br \/>\n execution of the death sentence may be regarded as a  ground<br \/>\n for commuting it, but we desire to point out that this is no<br \/>\n rule  of law and is a matter primarily for consideration  of<br \/>\n the  local  Government.   If the Court\t has  to  exercise  a<br \/>\n discretion  in\t such matter, the other facts  of  such\t case<br \/>\n would\thave  to be taken into consideration.\tIn  the\t case<br \/>\n before\t us,  we  find\tthat  the  murder  was\ta  cruel  and<br \/>\n deliberate  one  and there was\t no  extenuatin\t circumstance<br \/>\n whatsoever which would justify using ordering a  commutation<br \/>\n of the death sentence.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p> (1) A.I.R. 1954 S.C. 278.\n<\/p>\n<p> (2) [1944] F.C.R. 61<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\"> 549<\/span><br \/>\n It  seems  to us that the extremely excessive delay  in  the<br \/>\n disposal  of  the case of the appellant would by  itself  be<br \/>\n sufficient  for imposing a lesser sentence  of\t imprisonment<br \/>\n for life under s. 302.\t Section 302, I.P.C., prescribes  two<br \/>\n alternate sentences, namely, death sentence or\t imprisonment<br \/>\n for  life, and when there has been inordinate delay  in  the<br \/>\n disposal of the appeal by the High Court it seems to us that<br \/>\n it  is\t a relevant factor for the High Court  to  take\t into<br \/>\n consideration\tfor  imposing the lesser sentence.   In\t this<br \/>\n particular  case,  as pointed out above, the  appellant  was<br \/>\n committed to trial by the Presidency Magistrate as early  as<br \/>\n July,\t31, 1963, and he was convicted by the Trial Judge  on<br \/>\n September  4,\t1964.\tIt  is\tnow  January  1971,  and  the<br \/>\n appellant  has been&#8217; for more than six years under the\t fear<br \/>\n of   sentence\t of  death.   This  must  have\t caused\t  him<br \/>\n unimaginable  mental  agony.\tIn our opinion\tit  would  be<br \/>\n inhuman  to make him suffer till the Government decides  the<br \/>\n matter on a mercy petition.  We consider that this is now  a<br \/>\n fit case for awarding the sentence of imprisonment for life.<br \/>\n Accordingly we accept the appeal, set aside the order of the<br \/>\n High  Court awarding death sentence and award a sentence  of<br \/>\n imprisonment for life.\t The sentences under s. 148,  I.P.C.,<br \/>\n and  S. 5 of the Explosive Substances Act and under s.\t 302,<br \/>\n I.P.C., shall run concurrently.\n<\/p>\n<pre> V.P.S.\t\t\t\t\t\t     Sentence\n modified.\n<span class=\"hidden_text\"> 550<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India Vivian Rodrick vs State Of West Bengal on 27 January, 1971 Equivalent citations: 1971 AIR 1584, 1971 SCR (3) 546 Author: S Sikri Bench: Sikri, S.M. (Cj) PETITIONER: VIVIAN RODRICK Vs. RESPONDENT: STATE OF WEST BENGAL DATE OF JUDGMENT27\/01\/1971 BENCH: SIKRI, S.M. (CJ) BENCH: SIKRI, S.M. (CJ) REDDY, P. JAGANMOHAN DUA, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vivian Rodrick vs State Of West Bengal on 27 January, 1971 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/vivian-rodrick-vs-state-of-west-bengal-on-27-january-1971\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vivian Rodrick vs State Of West Bengal on 27 January, 1971 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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