22.
In Mulla v. State of Uttar Pradesh8 this Court specifically noted in
paragraph 80 of the Report that one of the factors that appears to have been
left out in judicial decision-making on the issue of sentencing, is the socioeconomic factor which is a mitigating factor although it may not dilute the
guilt of the convict. This is what this Court held:
“80. Another factor which unfortunately has been left out in
much judicial decision-making in sentencing is the socioeconomic factors leading to crime. We at no stage suggest that
economic depravity justify moral depravity, but we certainly
recognise that in the real world, such factors may lead a person
to crime. The 48th Report of the Law Commission also reflected
this concern. Therefore, we believe, socio-economic factors
might not dilute guilt, but they may amount to mitigating
circumstances. Socio-economic factors lead us to another related
mitigating factor i.e. the ability of the guilty to reform. It may not
be misplaced to note that a criminal who commits crimes due to
his economic backwardness is most likely to reform. This Court
on many previous occasions has held that this ability to reform
amounts to a mitigating factor in cases of death penalty.”
(Emphasis supplied by us).
23.
In Kamleshwar Paswan v. Union Territory of Chandigarh9 this
Court noted the fact that the convict was a rickshaw puller and a migrant
with psychological and economic pressures. The socio-economic condition
of the convict was therefore taken into consideration for the purposes of
sentencing him. It was held in paragraph 8 of the Report as follows:
8
(2010) 3 SCC 508
9
(2011) 11 SCC 564
R.P. (Crl.) No.245 of 2010 in Crl. Appeal No. 811 of 2009
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