Crl.A. No. 1215/2011

NAVAS @ MULANAVAS VS STATE OF KERALA

The Three Judge Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the Appellant’s conviction but reduced the sentence for the offence of murder from thirty years without remission, to twenty-five years without remission, including the period already served. The judgement of the Court was authored by Justice Viswanathan.The Supreme Court illustratively laid down the aggravating and mitigating circumstances for determining the minimum sentence (without remission) to be imposed while commuting a death sentence. In the present case, the Court held that the relatively young age of the Appellant when he committed the crime (twenty eight years), the absence of any financial motive, and no attempt to escape from the crime scene, were mitigating factors. The fact that the decision primarily relied on circumstantial evidence and the Appellant had already served more than eighteen years in jail while showcasing positive conduct throughout, further influenced the decision to reduce the sentence.