The Supreme Court in the case has commuted it to 20 years’ imprisonment, wherein it has been stated by the court that he is amenable to reform as he had obtained a vocational degree while being in jail for the past 14 years, It is being more than a decade Supreme Court convicted the man and has sentenced to death by all courts including the Supreme Court for murdering and kidnapping the seven-year-old child.
Therefore, the Cuddalore court in Tamil Nadu had awarded Sunder death sentence on 30.07.2010, wherein it has been confirmed by the Madras High Court on 30.09.2010, the Top Court upheld it on 05.02.2013. The Supreme Court also dismissed the review petition in 20.03.2013 in the chamber. However, the Supreme Court in the judgement of Mohd Arif in 2014 observed and has mandated open court hearing on pleas seeking review of death sentences leading to the recall of the Supreme Court order in March 20.
The bench comprising of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli and Justice PS Narasimha in the case observed and has analysed the evidence afresh and concluded that, this court see no reason to interfere with the concurrent findings of the trial court, the High Court and the Supreme Court guilt of the petitioner for kidnapping and murdering the victim.
It has also been observed by the bench that Sunder, who being 24-year-old when he murdered the child and has dumped the body of him into a pond after packing it in a gunny bag, which could be amenable to reform since he had maintained and has saved the attempt, he made in 2013 for escaping, good conduct in jail.
