Commutation of death penalty: Review petition in Supreme Court against "every sinner has a future" verdict

A review petition has been filed before the Supreme Court against an April 19, 2021 judgment of the top court by which it had commuted the death sentence of a man convicted for killing a 4-year-old girl after raping her [Mohd. Firoz v. State of Madhya Pradesh]. .The review petition has been filed by the mother of the deceased girl challenging the reduction of sentence of convict Mohd. Firoz to life imprisonment from death. The Supreme Court in its judgment had held that it was not a 'rarest of rare' case warranting death penalty. However, certain observations in the judgment had invited criticism. The Bench headed by Justice UU Lalit had invoked Oscar Wilde and had observed that the only difference between a saint and a sinner is that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future."The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. One of the basic principles of restorative justice as developed by this Court over the years, also is to give an opportunity to the offender to repair the damage caused, and to become a socially useful individual, when he is released from the jail".The mother of the accused has stated in her review petition that her daughter "was, at the tender age of 3 years and 8 months, deceitfully kidnapped, brutally raped and viciously murdered by the accused in the most brutal, diabolical and revolting manner"..The plea said that while commuting the death sentence, the top court had only considered the rights of the accused, and completely ignored the rights of the victim, which is impermissible in the eyes of law..The plea filed through advocate Alakh Alok Shrivastava further contended that the extreme depravity and barbaric manner in which the crime was committed, and the fact that the petitioner’s daughter was a helpless child of about 4 years categorically brought it within the category of 'rarest of the rare' case..According to the prosecution case, the accused, a labourer at Jhabua Power Plant, had gone to the victim's house seeking temporary accommodation.However, the victim's mother refused to accommodate him and asked him to leave. He, however, sat in their courtyard for some time and took the victim and her elder brother outside the house, purchased some bananas and gave it to the victim's brother. He then took the victim to a secluded place, committed rape and subsequently killed her.The accused was handed a death sentence by a sessions court in Seoni and a co-accused was sentenced to a jail term for kidnapping the victim.The death sentence was confirmed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur by an order passed on July 15, 2014. The same was challenged by the convict before the top court.The Bench led by Justice Lalit noted that the prosecution has successfully established its case against the accused and especially the "last seen theory", which was confirmed by the victim's mother, her brother and the fruit vendor, who testified to have seen the accused taking the victim along with him.It, therefore, upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence.