A special division bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Rakesh Kanthla ordered that the two convicts, Chander Sharma and Vikrant Bakshi, would serve life sentence till death, while Tejinder Pal was acquitted.
Photo: IANS
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has commuted the death penalty of two convicts to life imprisonment and acquitted the third in the sensational Yug murder case, modifying the 2018 verdict of the district court.
A special division bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Rakesh Kanthla ordered that the two convicts, Chander Sharma and Vikrant Bakshi, would serve life sentence till death, while Tejinder Pal was acquitted.
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Four-year-old Yug Gupta was kidnapped on June 14, 2014, from Ram Bazaar in Shimla while returning home with his grandfather.
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The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 3.5 crore from the child’s father.
The case was transferred to the state CID on August 14, 2014. Preliminary investigation revealed that Yug was kept in confinement for several days, where he was starved, forced to consume liquor and tortured.
On June 21, 2014, he was tied to a heavy stone and thrown alive into a water tank in the Kelston area, managed by the Shimla Municipal Corporation.
His skeletal remains were discovered in August 2016, more than two years later, sparking massive public outrage and protests across the Shimla city.
After a detailed trial, the Sessions Court in Shimla, in September 2018, had convicted three accused — Chander Sharma, Tejinder Pal Singh and Vikrant Bakshi — and sentenced them to death, describing the case as falling in the “rarest of rare” category.
The court had also awarded them additional punishment for kidnapping for ransom, wrongful confinement, destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy.
As per law, the case was referred to the High Court for confirmation of the death sentences. After years of hearings, the Division Bench delivered its judgment on Tuesday, ruling that while the crime was brutal and disturbing, it did not qualify for the extreme penalty of death.
The court observed that capital punishment is reserved for the gravest cases where life imprisonment is inadequate, and in this case, rigorous life imprisonment was deemed sufficient.
The verdict has triggered mixed reactions. The victim’s family expressed anguish, saying justice had been diluted by sparing the convicts from the gallows.
“Our son suffered unimaginable torture. We expected the death penalty to be upheld,” said a family member.
On the other hand, Additional Advocate General Jitinder Sharma, representing the state in the High Court, said that the government was not satisfied with the verdict.
Both the victim’s family and the state government plans to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.
The Yug murder case remains one of the most chilling crimes in Himachal Pradesh’s recent history. It not only shook Shimla’s residents but also reignited the debate over capital punishment, child safety and policing lapses. With the High Court’s ruling, the two convicts will now serve life terms behind bars, though the possibility of further appeal in the Supreme Court remains open.
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