Supreme Court acquits man sentenced to death for alleged murder of mother, wife and 2-year-old daughter

The Supreme Court today quashed the conviction and death sentence of a man for the alleged murder of his mother, wife and two-year-old daughter, noting that the prosecution failed to prove a continuous chain of events.

A bench of Judges BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan the verdict pronounced. Delivering the decision, Judge Gavai said:

“We have found that the prosecution has failed to prove the intervening circumstances… and since it is circumstantial evidence, in no case has the prosecution been able to prove an uninterrupted chain of events leading to (… .) That is why we have granted the appeal.”

Briefly, the appellant-Vishwajeet Kerba Masalkar was convicted by the Trial Court under Sections 302, 307 and 201 of the IPC. On appeal, the Bombay High Court upheld the death penalty, holding that the case should be heard as such “rarest of the rare”.

Reflecting on the brutality of the murder, the Supreme Court noted that Masalkar committed a planned, cold-blooded murder of his mother, wife and daughter. “By killing the family, the suspect attempted to destroy the basic foundations of society,” it said. As such, the case stung the judicial conscience of the Court.

Aggrieved by the Supreme Court’s decision, Masalkar approached the Supreme Court.

Background

Masalkar worked as a Facility Executive at a Pune-based company. He informed police that a theft had occurred at his home, killing his mother, wife and daughter and injuring his neighbor.

The said information was treated as a complaint and case registered under Sections 302 and 397 of the IPC. During the investigation it emerged that there had been no theft of gold jewelry or cash from the home and that there had also been no forced entry. It was further discovered that Masalkar had a love affair outside marriage. Police suspected Masalkar of having committed the murder of his wife, mother and child, and inflicting injuries on his neighbor as he may have witnessed the said murder. Accordingly, an investigation was initiated and Masalkar was arrested.

After the investigation was completed, the judge examined the material and sentenced Masalkar to death. Against this decision, Masalkar approached the Supreme Court.

Before the Supreme Court, the state counsel argued that the police had initially been misled by Masalkar into believing that a theft had taken place resulting in the death of his wife, mother and daughter. However, later the gold jewelry that was allegedly stolen was discovered hidden behind a picture frame in the house itself. It was further stated that a hammer was recovered at the initiative of Masalkar.

After examining all the material, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence and noted:

“We have made an extensive assessment of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. There are only six aggravating circumstances available in this case. In contrast, none of the mitigating circumstances are available. The balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances tips in favor of the aggravating circumstances. In view of this, we are of the opinion that the present case should be treated as the rarest case.

The Hon’ble the Apex Court has made it clear that the rarest test of rare cases depends on the perception of the Society and the approach should be ‘society oriented’ and not ‘judge oriented’. The test must be applied as to whether the association will address the award of the death penalty for the crime in question.”

Masalkar challenged this decision and approached the Supreme Court.

Case Title: VISHWAJEET KERBA MASALKAR v. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA, Crl.A. No.213/2020