New Delhi, March 11 The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of the death sentence awarded to a man, who was convicted for sexually assaulting and murdering a five-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh in 2024.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria passed the order while hearing the appeal filed by Atul Nihale, who has challenged the January verdict of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which affirmed his conviction and sentence in the case.
"The execution of the death sentence shall remain stayed pending the hearing and final disposal of the present appeals," the bench said in its order passed on Tuesday.
It said the original case record be summoned from the high court and the concerned trial court.
The bench directed the state to place before it the reports of all probation officers relating to the appellant within 12 weeks.
"The superintendent of jail, central jail, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh shall submit a report with regard to the nature of work which has been performed by the appellant while in jail and a report with regard to the conduct and behaviour of the appellant while in jail within a period of 12 weeks," it said.
The bench directed the head of Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre to constitute a suitable team for the purpose of carrying out a psychological evaluation of the appellant.
It said the report of evaluation be submitted to the court within 12 weeks.
"Devika Rawat, who is associated with the Square Circle Clinic, NALSAR University of Law, is permitted to have access to the appellant, who is presently lodged in central jail, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, to conduct multiple in-person interviews for the purpose of collecting information relevant to sentencing and to submit a mitigation investigation report on behalf of the appellant...," it said.
The bench said the jail superintendent shall ensure that for the sake of confidentiality, these interviews be conducted in a separate interviewing space without any prison official or police staff being within earshot distance, and audio recorders be permitted to be used to record the interviews.
It posted the matter for hearing after 16 weeks.
The appellant was convicted and sentenced to death by a trial court in the case.
The victim's mother had filed a police complaint at Bhopal in September 2024 to the effect that her daughter was missing.
According to the police, while conducting search operation, the cops noticed some unpleasant smell and they reached to a flat in Eidgah hills where they found a white plastic tank containing the victim's body kept in the bathroom.
In its judgement delivered in March last year, the trial court convicted and sentenced the appellant.
Later, the matter went to the high court which dismissed the appeal filed by the appellant against the trial court's verdict.
Before the high court, the counsel appearing for the appellant had contended that he was falsely implicated in the case.