The Calcutta Weekly Notes Law Notes and Notes of Cases of the Calcutta High Court and of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the English Law Courts Monday August 15 1921

The standardisation of punishments in statutes is well nigh impossible and the legislature must be satisfied to fix the maximum penalty leaving it to the discretion of the Court to award such ruthishment as would suit the circumstances of each case. [...] In that case the prisoner was condemned to death by the Judicial Commissioner for having committed itriurde ; in the belief that the dceased was a wizard and the cause ffif his child's illness and that by killing the )deceased the child's life might be ' saved. [...] Their Lordships in commuting the sentence to one of tranportation for lite -observed': " The prisoner was undoubtedly acting under the influence of the belief that the deceased man was the cause of.his child's illness and probably thought that by the act of killing him the child's life.might be saved. [...] We in no way counteance the supposition that the existence of such a motive as existed here in no way changes the nature of the crime but we thimt that as the law has prescribed two different degrees of punishment for the crime of murder this is e case which under all the circumstances may be considered not to merit the severer penalty." ( Q. v. Oran Sungra 6 W. B. Cr. [...] The certificate ander the hand and the seal of the Court of the Ditsiet Judge granted to persons who have been admitted as Mokhtears by the High Court of judicature authorises them to practise as such in all Criminal Courts subordinate to the High Court.