- By Aditya Jha
- Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:04 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Sathankulam Case: A court in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district on Monday announced death sentences for nine police officials in the custodial deaths of a father and son duo in the Thoothukudi district back in 2020. The court pointed out that local trader P Jayaraj and his son J Benicks died in custody due to assault by the officials. It asserted that this was a "case of abuse of authority", adding that the judgment will not instill fear among the police officials. The custodial deaths had triggered massive nationwide outrage six years ago.
Is It A Rare Judgment?
The court pointed out that Inspector Sridhar, Sub-Inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh, and police personnel Murugan, Samadurai, Muthuraja, Chelladurai, Thomas Francis, and Veilumuthu were responsible for the death of Jayaraj and his son. The experts pointed out that death sentences are awarded only in the "rarest of the rare" cases after the Bachan Singh judgment of 1980.
The Supreme Court and the High Courts, in the past decade, have been liberal while announcing capital punishment. The high courts often convert the death sentences by the lower courts into life imprisonment for fixed terms, like 20 years. Apart from this, several legal experts in recent times have also advocated for the abrogation of capital punishment.
As per the procedure, the courts must record "special reasons" for awarding the death penalty to any individual as per Section 354(3) of the CrPC. However, the decision will become final following receiving approval from the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court.
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The higher courts are also likely to consider that the accused are not ordinary citizens, but police officials representing the state. While the death penalty could have been awarded to send a strong message and to set a benchmark, the higher courts are likely to have a more liberal approach.