Bombay High Court Rejects Death Penalty Plea in Pallavi Purkayastha Murder Case

Pallavi Purkayastha was discovered murdered in her Wadala apartment on August 9, 2012.

On Monday, the Bombay High Court dismissed petitions requesting capital punishment for the security guard convicted of murdering Mumbai lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha in 2012.

The petition, submitted by the lawyer's father Atanu Purkayastha and the Maharashtra government, sought to upgrade convicted security guard Sajjad Pathan's sentence from life imprisonment to death penalty.

Additionally, the court rejected an appeal filed by Pathan challenging the life sentence imposed on him.

Pathan was found guilty by a sessions court in July 2014 for murder, molestation, and criminal trespass in the killing of the 25-year-old lawyer, receiving a life imprisonment sentence. The sessions court determined that this case did not qualify as "rarest of rare," which would have justified capital punishment.

Pallavi Purkayastha was found murdered in her Wadala residence on August 9, 2012. Investigators determined that entry was gained using stolen keys, and evidence indicated the victim fought against her attacker. The murder shocked Mumbai and led to an extensive criminal investigation.

In March 2016, Pathan received parole from Nashik jail to visit sick relatives. He failed to return to custody and remained missing for over a year before being apprehended in Jammu and Kashmir in October 2017 following a coordinated police operation. Courts subsequently sentenced him to an additional term for parole violation.

The effort to secure a death sentence was driven by a revision petition filed by IAS officer Atanu Purkayastha, who contended that the brutality of the crime and the accused's behavior after conviction warranted an enhanced punishment.