Supreme Court deletes mandate for trial courts to collect death-penalty factors

This matter concerns an application by the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) seeking clarification on a previous Supreme Court order that mandated trial courts to collect aggravating and mitigating factors in all cases punishable by death. The core issue was whether this mandatory direction was workable for trial courts.

Who it concerns: Petitioner/Applicant: National Legal Service Authority (NALSA); Respondent: The State of Bihar (in the underlying appeal Aman Singh & Anr. vs. The State of Bihar); Bench: Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjeev Mehta, and Apuresh Kumar Singh.

What the court decided

• Deleted Paragraph 13(A) of the order dated 27th April, 2026, which mandated trial courts to call for reports on aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
• Ordered the issuance of a corrigendum to reflect the deletion of Paragraph 13(A).
• Directed that the corrected copy be forwarded to all concerned parties.
• Disposed of Interim Application (IA) No. 276673/2026.

Also in the document

• The Court agreed with NALSA's submission that the previous direction was not workable and could cause procedural difficulties due to lack of resources in trial courts.
• The deletion specifically relieves trial courts from the mandatory requirement to undertake the exercise of collecting these reports in every case involving an offence punishable with death.