Nagpur: The Supreme Court has decided to reopen the case of Vasant Dupare, who was convicted of raping and brutally murdering a four-year-old girl in Nagpur’s Wadi area in 2008. He was awarded the death sentence.
On Monday, a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sanjay Karol, and Justice Sandeep Mehta observed that certain important legal procedures had not been followed during the sentencing stage of the trial. The bench said that in such instances, the apex court has the power to reconsider the matter.
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18 Aug 2025
Dupare was accused of luring the child with chocolates before committing the heinous crime and later killing her by crushing her head with stones. He was found guilty and handed the death penalty. The fresh hearing will now examine whether due process was fully observed in awarding the capital punishment, keeping in view the mandatory safeguards required in such cases.
The judges referred to a 2022 judgment (Manoj vs Madhya Pradesh), which says trial courts must check an accused person’s mental and psychological condition before giving a death sentence. Since this was not done in Dupare’s case, the court said it must look into it again. “This power is used to make sure a person facing the death sentence is treated fairly,” the judges said. They also made it clear that not all old cases will be reopened, only those where serious mistakes in following the law are found.
While the court did not change Dupare’s conviction, it set aside the earlier decision on sentencing and sent the case to the Chief Justice for a fresh hearing. Dupare was sentenced to death in 2014. His requests for a review and mercy were turned down in 2017, 2022, and 2023.
On April 3, 2008, Dupare, a resident of Wadi, raped and murdered a four-year-old girl. In 2010, the Additional Sessions Court in Nagpur sentenced him to death. He appealed to the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, which sent the case back in 2011. In February 2012, the Sessions Court again handed him the death penalty. The High Court confirmed the death sentence in March 2014.
Mercy petition rejected by President
Dupare approached the Supreme Court, but his appeals and review petitions were rejected, including one in 2017. He later filed a mercy petition with the President, which was also rejected. In 2023, Dupare filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, seeking reconsideration of his punishment. On Monday, the Supreme Court accepted his plea and stayed the execution.
