weightage to the mitigating circumstances which speak in favour of the offender? 40. If upon taking an overall global view of all the circumstances in the light of the aforesaid proposition and taking into account the answers to the questions posed hereinabove, the circumstances of the case are such that death sentence is warranted, the court would proceed to do so.” (Emphasis supplied) 11. It is evident that the Court in Bachan Singh (supra) has set a very high threshold of “rarest of rare cases when the alternative option is unquestionably foreclosed” for the grant of death penalty. The meaning and ambit of this expression has been discussed in Santosh Bariyar (supra). The Court also emphasised the need for a bifurcated hearing for the purpose of conviction and sentencing. The relevant portion reads: “56. At this stage, Bachan Singh informs the content of the sentencing hearing. The court must play a proactive role to record all relevant information at this stage. Some of the information relating to crime can be culled out from the phase prior to sentencing hearing. This information would include aspects relating to the nature, motive and impact of crime, culpability of convict, etc. Quality of evidence adduced is also a relevant factor. For instance, extent of reliance on circumstantial evidence or child witness plays an important role in the sentencing analysis. But what is sorely lacking, in most capital sentencing cases, is information relating to characteristics and socio-economic background of the offender. This issue was also raised in the 48th Report of the Law Commission. 57. Circumstances which may not have been pertinent in conviction can also play an important role in the selection of sentence. Objective analysis of the probability that the 11