114 210. The move to call for a Probation Officer’s Report 117 (as done by this court even in this case), is in fact a desperate attempt by the courts at the appellate stage, to obtain information on the accused – at present. Good conduct of the accused at the post-conviction stage in prison (through a jail report), and psychiatric evaluation to evaluate possibility of reform (albeit at the appellate sentencing stage), were considered recently in Chhannu Lal Verma as necessary indicators for considering mitigating circumstances: “15. …Since the appellant has been in jail, we wanted to know whether there was any attempt on his part for reformation. The Superintendent of the jail has given a certificate that his conduct in jail has been good. Thus, there is a clear indication that despite having lost all hope, yet no frustration has set on the appellant. On the contrary, there was a conscious effort on his part to lead a good life for the remaining period. A convict is sent to jail with the hope and expectation that he would make amends and get reformed. That there is such a positive change on a death row convict, in our view, should also weigh with the Court while taking a decision as to whether the alternative option is unquestionably foreclosed. As held by the Constitution Bench in Bachan Singh [Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, (1980) 2 SCC 684 : 1980 SCC (Cri) 580] it was the duty of the State to prove by evidence that the convict cannot be reformed or rehabilitated. That information not having been furnished by the State at the relevant time, the information now furnished by the State becomes all the more relevant. The standard set by the “rarest of rare” test in Bachan Singh [Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, (1980) 2 SCC 684 : 1980 SCC (Cri) 580] is a high standard. The conduct of the convict in prison cannot be lost sight of. The fact that the prisoner has displayed good behaviour in prison certainly goes on to show that he is not beyond reform. 16. In the matter of probability and possibility of reform of a criminal, we do not find that a proper psychological/psychiatric evaluation is done. Without the assistance of such a psychological/psychiatric assessment and evaluation it would not be proper to hold that there is no possibility or probability of reform. The State has to bear in mind this important aspect while proving by evidence that the convict cannot be reformed or rehabilitated” (emphasis supplied) 211. However, this too, is too little, too late and only offers a peek into the circumstances of the accused after conviction. The unfortunate reality is that in the absence of well-documented mitigating circumstances at the trial level, the aggravating circumstances seem far more compelling, or overwhelming, rendering the sentencing court prone to imposing the death penalty, on the basis of an incomplete, and hence, incorrect application of the Bachan Singh test. 117 Birju v. State of M.P., (2014) 3 SCC 421; Anil @ Anthony Arikswamy Joseph v. State Of Maharashtra, (2014) 4 SCC 69; Bharat Singh vs. State (NCT of Delhi), Order dated 17.04.2014, DSR No. 1/2014.