A controversial Supreme Court judgement in the Devender...

A controversial Supreme Court judgement in the Devender Pal Singh case- in which several persons were killed when the accused made an attempt on the life of Congress activist M S Bitta - did not enforce the need for corroboration of evidence while convicting the accused.
However, the judgment did reiterate the guidelines for terming a murder case as the rarest of rare cases. Such cases only call for the extreme penalty of death.
The fractured 2:1 verdict - in which Justice MB Shah differed from Justices B N Agrawal and Arijit Pasayat - said death sentences can be given when the murder is committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting or dastardly manner.
The accused can be sent to the gallows when the murder is committed for a motive which evinces total depravity and meanness, such as murder by hired assassins for money or reward or cold-blooded murder for gain when the murderer is in a dominating position or in a position of trust.
The perpetrators of the crime can also be given the capital sentence in cases of dowry death or where a particular section of the deprived class is subjected to the dastardly act.
The extreme sentence is also possible when there are multiple murders or when the victim is innocent. For instance a helpless woman or child or an infirm person or a public figure generally loved and respected by the community.
In crimes executed by more than one person, once a charge of conspiracy is established, the sentence for all the accused can be the same. In certain cases of conspiracy, direct evidence may not be possible. But if the "agreement" between the conspirator/s and executors is proved through circumstantial evidence, the court would have to decide whether the accused deserve death sentence.