A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that on the date of occurrence of the event, the appellant Pramila was a juvenile and should have been dealt with under Section 21 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
When he was 12 years old, Niranaram, along with two others, was arrested for the murder of five persons, including a pregnant woman and two children. He was, however, tried as a 20-year-old and awarded the death sentence.
The apex court said that in cases where evidence from witnesses is partly reliable and partly unreliable, the court is required to be circumspect and seek further corroboration from reliable testimony.