Case Summary: Absar Alam vs State of Bihar

Citation: AIR 2012 (2) SCC 728

Bench: Justice A.K Patnaik, Justice Swantanter Kumar

INTRODUCTION

In this case the court held that the murder was extremely brutal and one of the rarest of the rare case. The appellant’s wife ran away and he accused his mother as the reason and murdered her. The court decided upon the matter while taking in account of the background he comes from as an illiterate rustic and his mental condition with no control over his emotions.

FACTS

The appellant approached the court under Article 136 of Constitution of India as a special leave petition against the order of death sentence issued by Patna High Court. The appellant’s wife left him a few days ago and he accused his mother of the cause and murdered her by severing her head and thereafter fled of from the house with the head and left the body behind and later the FIR was lodged by the brother of the appellant.

ISSUES

1. Whether the appellant should have been imposed with a death penalty?

JUDGEMENT

The court upheld a life imprisonment for the offence under section 302 of IPC converting the death sentence by taking into account the mental state of the accused.