'Little Nirbhaya' case: SC acquits death convict in 7-year-old's rape-murder

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted a death convict in rape-murder of a seven-year-old girl in Uttarakhand in 2014 and said the highest degree of circumspection should be exercised by courts before awarding the death penalty .

The gruesome rape-murder was termed as the 'Little Nirbhaya' case and had sparked outrage across the state.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta quashed the trial court and Uttarakhand HC's order to convict him and award the extreme punishment. It also acquitted another accused who was punished with a seven-year jail term.

SC said there were many loopholes in the probe and the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused in the case, which was solely based on circumstantial evidence.

"We are of the opinion the prosecution has failed to establish the complete and unbroken chain of circumstances necessary to bring home the guilt of the accused-appellants," it said.

Appealing to courts to be cautious while awarding death penalty, Justice Mehta, who penned the judgment, said, "The irreversible nature of capital punishment demands it be imposed only in 'rarest of rare' cases... Even slightest doubt or infirmity in prosecution's case must weigh against imposition of such a sentence. Any hasty or mechanical application of death penalty, without ensuring the highest standards of proof and procedural fairness, not only undermines rule of law but risks the gravest miscarriage of justice by extinguishing a human life irretrievably".