Jigisha murder case: Death sentence of 2 commuted to life

The Delhi High Court on Thursday commuted the death penalty awarded to two convicts in the 2009 murder case of IT executive Jigisha Ghosh.

The court awarded life sentences to Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla, and upheld life term to another accused Baljeet Mallik.

Division bench of Justice S Murlidhar and Justice IS Mehta pronounced the judgment

The three accused in the case - Amit, Baljeet and Ravi - are also under trial for murdering television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan on September 30, 2008, while she was returning home from her office.

Jigisha, 28, was working with Hewitt Associate Pvt Ltd as an operations manager, was abducted and killed on March 18, 2009, after she was dropped near her home in Vasant Vihar area of South Delhi by her official cab around 4 a.m.

The trial had begun on April 15, 2010, with an examination of her father as the first prosecution witness.

The court had framed charges against the accused under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act, dealing with murder, criminal conspiracy, abduction, robbery, forgery and using firearms. The recovery of the weapon allegedly used in the murder of Jigisha also led to the cracking of the Soumya murder case.