RG Kar and Greeshma: Two murder cases show that capital punishment is a judicial lottery in India

Contrasting sentencing orders on Monday in two separate murder convictions have again brought to the fore the absence of a uniform standard in India when judges award the death penalty.

Greeshma, a 24-year-old woman, was sentenced to death by a Thiruvananthapuram court for poisoning and murdering her partner in October 2022. The same day, Sanjay Roy, a former civic police volunteer convicted for the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at the city’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August, was handed a life sentence by a Kolkata court.

In India, capital punishment is supposed to be awarded in the “rarest of rare” situations. The disparity in the sentences of Greeshma and Roy has raised questions about the inconsistent and subjective application of this principle.

The Kerala court repeatedly referred to the romantic relationship between the victim and the offender. The suggestion of enticement and betrayal by a woman give the impression that the judge ’s gendered perceptions influenced the death sentence to Greeshma.

Background to both cases

The Bengal case relates to the murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor on a state-run hospital’s premises on August 9. The crime sparked protests across the country.

The Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the case amid public outrage.

Roy was arrested by the Kolkata Police on August 10,…

Read more