Patna High Court acquitted three persons who faced death sentence in 2023

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 561 prisoners were living under a sentence of death at the end of 2023, which is the highest population on death row in a single calendar year in nearly two decades. 

As of December 31 2023, 120 death sentences were imposed by trial courts across the country, according to the eighth edition of the Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report. Its previous seven editions are available at [2022] [2021] [2020] [2019] [2018] [2017] [2016]. These reports are prepared by the team members of Project 39A of National Law University, Delhi (NLUD). 

In 2023, Patna High Court acquitted three persons who were given death penalty by the trial courts. 

1. In the State of Bihar v. Amar Kumar, High Court's bench of Justices Ashutosh Kumar and Alok Kumar Pandey acquitted a person who was charged with murder involving sexual offences, on December 18, 2023.

2. In the State of Bihar v. Deva Nand Singh, High Court's bench of Justices Chakradhari Sharan Singh and G Anupama acquitted a prisoner of murder simpliciter on November 30, 2023.

3. In the State of Bihar v. Shahid, Justices Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Nawneet Kumar bench of the Patna High Court acquitted a person of murder involving sexual offences on August 29, 2023.

In Jai Kishor Sah v. State of Bihar, Patna High Court's bench of Justices Chkradhari Sharan and Rajesh Kumar Verma commuted the death sentence of the prisoner in a case of murder involving sexual offences on June 26, 2023. The sentence was reduced to fixed term imprisonment of 25 years without remission.  

The three new criminal laws, namely, Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita (the Indian Penal Code), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita (the Criminal Procedure Code) and Bharatiya Sakshya Act, 2023 (the Indian Evidence Act) are all set to come into force from July 2024.

Notably, the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita (new IPC) has increased the number of offences punishable by death from 12 to 18. 

The procedures and time limit for filing mercy petitions by death row prisoners are provided in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita (new CrPC). It codifies the procedure for filing of mercy petitions by death row prisoners. It introduces time limits for the filing of these petitions.