ASHOK KUMAR vs STATE OF DELHI — SLP(Crl.)...CRLMP No. 1593/1995

Summary: Ashok Kumar v. State of Delhi (1995) The Supreme Court upheld Ashok Kumar's murder conviction under Section 302 IPC for killing Mahabir Singh in a Delhi hotel, finding the circumstantial evidence—including witness testimony, handwriting identification, bloodstains, and the co-accused's statement—compelling. However, the Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, holding this was not a "rarest of rare case" warranting capital punishment, as the killing appeared spontaneous (with a handy stone) rather than premeditated, despite the illicit motive involving his affair with the victim's wife. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.