It is after a gap of seven years that the Kerala High Court has upheld a verdict of a lower court awarding death sentence to a convict. Since 2006, more than 10 death sentence reference (DSR) cases were considered by the court. But for Soumya murder case, in all other cases where the court took decision, it commuted death sentence to life imprisonment.
Some cases, including the sensational Kanichukulangara murder case, are still pending before the High Court. The death sentence awarded to Antony for murdering six members of a family in Aluva was the last case in which High Court confirmed a lower court verdict. Augustine, a 48-year-old businessman; his wife, Mary; son Jesmon; daughter Divya, mother Clara and sister Kochurani, were found murdered by Antony on January 6, 2001.
Criminal lawyer P Vijayabhanu said the death sentence awarded to Antony in 2006 was the last case in which the High Court confirmed the verdict of a lower court. Before Antony’s case, the HC had confirmed the death sentence awarded to five CPM activists by the Thalassery Sessions Court for murdering K T Jayakrishnan, schoolteacher and Bharatiya Janatha Yuva Morcha state vice-president, in July 2005. But the SC had commuted the death sentence awarded to Acharambath Pradeepan, Kunhipunathil Sundaran, Nallaveettil Shaji, Parambath Chathampally Dinesh Babu, K K Anil Kumar, the second, third, fourth and sixth accused, respectively, in the case.
However, the court had commuted death sentence to life term in many sensational cases, including Puthoor Sheela murder case. The HC had commuted the death sentence of Kanakaraj, the second accused in Puthur Sheela murder case, to life term. A Division Bench had ruled that it was not a case that had special circumstances and facts to warrant a death penalty. The HC had also set aside the capital punishment awarded to a carpenter who killed his wife.