Supreme Court Commutes Death Penalty Of Man Convicted For Killing Wife, Four Children; Cites Mental Health & Good Conduct In Jail

The Supreme Court today (April 22) commuted the death sentence of a man to life imprisonment who was convicted for killing his wife and four children.

“considering the facts that the convict-appellant had no prior antecedents; good conduct for the past 16-17 years of incarceration; difficulties in mental health and consistent efforts at being a model prisoner, we find that the imposition of death penalty would be unjustified.”, the bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta said.

The Court relied on the findings made in the Probation Officer's report, mitigating investigator's report and the report of psychological assessment submitted to it in compliance of the principles laid down in Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2023) 2 SCC 353.

The mitigating factors, such as lack of prior criminal record, good behavior in jail, and contributions to inmate welfare, his psychological distress due to past trauma (abuse, neglect), and 16–17 years on death row, favoured the convict.

“in Ramesh A. Naika v. Registrar General, High Court of Karnataka Etc. and considering the facts that the convict-appellant had no prior antecedents; good conduct for the past 16-17 years of incarceration; difficulties in mental health and consistent efforts at being a model prisoner, we find that the imposition of death penalty would be unjustified. He is, therefore, removed from death row. However, considering the severity of the crime, the number of persons killed, that out of five four were his own children, we are of the view that he does not deserve to be set free and direct that he shall spend the remainder of his days in jail, till his last breath, hoping to do acts of penance to atone for the crimes he has committed and particularly for the fact that he extinguished four bright flames.”, the court said.

In terms of the aforesaid, the Court partly allowed the appeal, commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment.

Case Title: REJI KUMAR ALIAS REJI Versus STATE OF KERALA

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 457

Click here to read/download the judgment

Appearance:

For Appellant(s) : Ms. Sonia Mathur, Sr. Adv. Ms. Shreya Rastogi, Adv. Ms. Sakshi Jain, Adv. Ms. Maulshree Pathak, Adv. Ms. Ronika Tater, Adv. Ms. Shubhi Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Chandra Jaiswal, Adv. Mr. Mukund P. Unny , AOR Mr. Mangesh Naik, Adv.

For Respondent(s) :Mr. P.V. Dinesh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Santhosh K, Adv. Ms. Anna Oommen, Adv. Ms. Sayed Nazarat Fatima, Adv.