NEW DELHI: It is said words weave magic and the trait of weaving words proved beneficial for a death row convict as the Supreme Court commuted his death penalty to life.
Dhyaneshwar Suresh Borkar was sent to the gallows when he was 22 years old for the murder of a child. The apex court commuted his sentence saying that he wanted to reform himself and that poems he had written in jail indicated that he felt remorse.
A bench headed by Justice AK Sikri noted that Dnyaneshwar Suresh Borkar was 22 when he committed the crime and while in jail, tried to join the society and become a civilised man.
Banking on the reformative theory, the bench said Borkar was lodged in jail for last 18 years and his conduct showed that he could be reformed and rehabilitated.
“In the facts and circumstances of the case, capital punishment is not warranted. Striking the balance between the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, we are of the opinion that mitigating circumstances are in favour of the accused while commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment,” the bench said.
It noted several mitigating circumstances, including that “from the poems, written by him in the jail, it appears that he has realised his mistake which was committed by him.”