RAJARAM YADAV vs STATE OF BIHAR — Crl.A. No. 477/1996

Case Summary: Rajaram Yadav v. State of Bihar Decision: The Supreme Court commuted the death sentences of all eight appellants to life imprisonment, citing critical weaknesses in evidence and applicable legal precedents. While acknowledging the horrific nature of the 1987 Baghora village killings—where six persons were murdered and houses torched in a communal incident—the Court found that relying solely on a nine-year-old child witness was insufficient to sustain capital punishment, particularly when the child initially omitted naming four of the accused. Key Reasoning: Applying *Bachan Singh* and *Suresh v. State of U.P.* precedents, the Court held that death sentences cannot rest primarily on child witness testimony, despite its reliability in this case. The Court imposed life imprisonment plus six years rigorous imprisonment for arson, a ₹15,000 fine per appellant (payable to the sole child survivor), and consecutive sentences. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.