Report No. 156

Clause 125

12.47. In this clause section 302 is sought to be substituted by the new section bearing the same number. Under section 202 a person who commits murder shall be sentenced to death. The question in what type of cases the death sentence should be awarded has been considered in a number of cases by the Supreme Court and a concept of "rarest of rare cases" have been evolved. But in the proposed section it is sought to be enumerated as to in what type of cases death sentence can be awarded. We have considered this aspect in Chapter III and arrived at a conclusion that all categories of such cases cannot be in the said Chapter. Consequently, section 302 should be left as it is and clause 125 may stand deleted.