National
Jigisha murder: HC commutes death sentence of two to life (Second Lead)
New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Thursday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence of two convicts accused of murdering in 2009 IT executive Jigisha Ghosh.
Justice S. Murlidhar and Justice I.S. Mehta modified the death sentence awarded to Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla by the trial court and said they would serve life imprisonment.
“Having carefully considered the entire case from all perspectives, the court is not satisfied that the crime here can be characterised as ‘rarest of rare’ that warrants the award of the death penalty for Kapoor and Shukla,” the High Court said.
“The Court accordingly modifies the sentence awarded to Kapoor and Shukla for the offence under sections 302/34 IPC (murder with common intention) to one of imprisonment for life,” the judges said.
The two death row convicts had challenged the trial court’s conviction and sentence. The trial court had sentenced a third offender, Baljeet Malik, to life imprisonment for his good conduct in jail.
On July 14, 2016, the trial court held them guilty of the murder.
The High Court said it was not clear which of the three accused – whether all of them or only some of them – committed the murder of Jigisha.
“What is proved beyond doubt is that all of them were involved in the crime. Therefore, to differentiate, as the trial court has done, between the accused by awarding the death penalty to two of them may also not be justified,” said the court.
The bench said that in any event the behaviour of a prisoner during his term as an under trial cannot be a sufficient marker for his potential for reform and rehabilitation.
“…It might be unsafe to conclusively determine, even while the prisoner is an under trial, that his conduct in prison can indicate his capacity for reformation. Such a determination would require observing the prisoner over some period of time separated sufficiently in time and circumstance,” said the bench.
The High Court said that proved circumstances point “unerringly” to the guilt of the accused.
The 28-year-old Operations Manager at Hewitt Associates in Noida was abducted after an office car dropped her around 4 a.m. near her Delhi home.
The trial court had said she was killed in a “cold-blooded, inhuman and cruel manner” and “brutally mauled to death”.
It had said that the “magnitude and brutality” exhibited by the three made the case “rarest of rare”, warranting capital punishment for Kapoor and Shukla.
Ghosh was also robbed of her gold jewellery, two mobile phones and debit and credit cards. Her body was found near Surajkund in Haryana, about 20 km from her Vasant Vihar home.
The police had arrested the three within a week following digital footprints after the suspects used Ghosh’s ATM cards to buy expensive goggles, wrist watches and shoes at Sarojini Nagar Market in Delhi.
Malik’s hand tattoo busted the gang as the surveillance camera at a shop captured the image when the three were out shopping.
The trial court had held the three guilty under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, abducting for murder, destruction of evidence, voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery, forgery for purpose of cheating and using as genuine a forged document.
However, the charge of criminal conspiracy could not be proved against them.
In June 2009, the police had filed the chargesheet in the case stating that Ghosh’s post-mortem report had revealed that she was killed by smothering. The trial in the case began in April 2010.
The three were also facing trial for the murder of TV journalist Soumya Viswanathan, killed a year before Ghosh.
–IANS
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Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.
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