New Delhi: The Supreme Court has deleted Paragraph 13(A) of its order dated 27th April, 2026, which had mandated trial courts to call for reports on aggravating and mitigating circumstances in every case involving an offence punishable with death, accepting the submission of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) that the direction is not workable and may give rise to procedural difficulties, and has directed that a corrigendum be issued and a corrected copy forwarded to all concerned.
A Three-Judge Bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh passed the order on October 07, 2026, in IA No. 276673/2026, an application for clarification and direction filed by NALSA in Criminal Appeal Nos. 2351-52 of 2026 (arising out of SLP (Criminal) Nos. 8408-09 of 2026), titled Aman Singh & Anr. v. The State of Bihar. Only the interlocutory application was listed on the day.
The court recalled that, by its order dated 27th April, 2026, it had directed the trial courts and the High Courts to call for reports pertaining to aggravating and mitigating circumstances in every case involving an offence punishable with death. It had formed the opinion that, in a large number of such cases, the exercise of collecting and placing on record the aggravating and mitigating circumstances was being undertaken only when the matters reached the Supreme Court, and, in terms of Paragraph 13 of that order, the direction was made mandatorily applicable to the trial courts as well as the High Courts.
NALSA, through Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, sought clarification of the order, particularly on the aspect that the direction requiring the trial court to undertake the exercise in every case involving an offence punishable with death is not workable and may give rise to procedural difficulties. She pointed out that there may be many cases in which the trial court may not even contemplate imposing a sentence of death, but, as per the directions in the order of 27th April, 2026, it would nevertheless be required to call for reports on aggravating and mitigating circumstances in every such case. She further submitted that, otherwise also, the trial courts may find it very difficult to comply with the direction because they may not be possessed of the requisite resources or facilities to undertake such an extensive exercise.
Having considered the submissions, the court stated that it was in agreement with the submission of Ms. Nandakumar, and held that the directions contained in Para No. 13(A) of the order dated 27th April, 2026, which mandate the trial courts to call for the report of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, "deserves to be and is hereby deleted". It directed that a corrigendum be issued to that effect and that the corrected copy be forwarded to all concerned with the necessary rectification after deleting Para No. 13(A). IA No. 276673/2026 was disposed of accordingly, and the office was directed to proceed.
The order deletes only Paragraph 13(A) and does not, on its face, refer to any other direction in the order of 27th April, 2026, including the direction in relation to the High Courts.
Appearances:
For the Appellants: Mr. Pramod Kumar Dubey and Dr. Manish Singhvi, Senior Advocates, with Mr. Saurav Aggarwal, Mr. Ravi Sharma (Advocate-on-Record) and other Advocates.
For the Respondent: Mr. R. Basant and Mr. Gaurav Agarwal, Senior Advocates, with Mr. Akshay Amritanshu and other Advocates-on-Record and Advocates.
For NALSA (applicant in IA No. 276673/2026): Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, Advocate-on-Record, with Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Advocate.
Case Title: Aman Singh & Anr. vs. The State of Bihar, Criminal Appeal Nos. 2351-52 of 2026 (arising out of SLP (Criminal) Nos. 8408-09 of 2026), IA No. 276673/2026
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