4. The conviction and sentence came up for confirmation before the High Court of Kerala in Death Sentence Reference No.5 of 2005. The appellant was also aggrieved by his conviction and sentence and he preferred Criminal Appeal No.385 of 2005 against the judgment and sentence of the Trial Court. 5. By a judgment and order dated 18th September, 2006 the High Court confirmed the death sentence and dismissed the appeal of the appellant. 6. On the award of the death sentence, the High Court took the view that the crime committed by the appellant was most cruel and diabolical. It was observed that he had no respect, no care, no dignity, no mercy for human life and his living in this world is most dangerous to society. The High Court expressed its views on the sentence to be awarded to the appellant in paragraph 49 of the judgement. This reads as follows: “49. On the question of sentence all that has been urged before us by Mr. Ramakumar is that the present is not a ‘rarest of rare’ case where the appellant should be given capital punishment. No arguments have been raised to show any mitigating circumstances. We have reconsidered and yet reconsidered every aspect of the case. On every reconsideration, our view gets more and more strengthened that in the present case, death penalty has to be imposed. It is indeed a rarest of rare case. In this country of seers and sages, even a worm unconsciously trampled under the foot is considered to be a sin. Guided and motivated by tradition of non-violence, people in this country do not even think of physically harming anyone. Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation and many other stalwarts brought freedom to this Nation from the British Empire by fighting a bloodless war of R.P. (Crl.) No.245 of 2010 in Crl. Appeal No. 811 of 2009 Page 4 of 19