CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a man convicted for the brutal murder of two persons in Nayagarh district in 2019 to life imprisonment for the rest of his life. A division bench comprising Justices BP Routray and Chittaranjan Dash upheld Niranjan Mallick’s conviction but ruled that the case did not merit the death penalty, citing the potential for the convict’s reformation and his otherwise clean record.
Mallick was sentenced to death by the court of Additional Sessions Judge at Odagaon on April 24, 2024. The trial court had termed the case as one of the ‘rarest of rare’, pointing to the brutality of the crime that created widespread panic and fear among the local population. Niranjan had killed two persons in a drunken state at Odagaon on January 17, 2019.
The case had sent shockwaves across Odisha, prompting the state government to announce an ex gratia of `2 lakh each to the families of the two deceased. The high court, however, took a different view while considering both the state’s plea for confirmation of the death sentence and Mallick’s criminal appeal. In its detailed judgment, the court noted, “It is well-settled law that the possibility of reformation and rehabilitation of the convict is an important factor.
The convict hails from a poor economic background and has no previous criminal record. Reports from the jail authorities indicate good behaviour and cordial conduct with inmates.” “Taking into consideration the report of the jail authority in entirety, it cannot be said that there is no possibility of the convict being performed and rehabilitated, foreclosing the alternative of lesser sentence,” the judgment stated.