AGRA: Additional District and Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar has awarded death sentences to 22 convicts across 10 cases since taking charge in Muzaffarnagar. Combined with 13 earlier death sentences issued during his posting in Bareilly, the total number of convicts sentenced to capital punishment by him stands at 35.

The string of capital punishment rulings in Muzaffarnagar began on April 6, when three individuals convicted in the murder of advocate Sameer Saifi received death sentences. The subsequent rulings occurred on the following dates:

April 28: Four members of a family (a woman and her three sons) sentenced in a murder case. May 30: One convict sentenced to death.

June 20: Two convicts awarded the death penalty. July: One convict sentenced on July 2, two on July 6, and four on July 17.

August: One convict sentenced on August 12 and four on August 13. The cases involving the death penalty included the 2020 murder of an on-duty home guard and a 2011 highway robbery-murder case involving four men sentenced last month.

During his Bareilly tenure, Diwakar previously sentenced eight members of the Chaimar Hassen gang to death in connection with a 2014 triple murder and dacoity case.

The frequency and severity of these rulings have triggered discussions regarding the application of the "rarest of rare" doctrine.

An unnamed lawyer stated that "awarding of a death sentence should be done after much deliberation, and keeping the sanctity of the ‘rarest of rare’ principle in mind."

Conversely, Muzaffarnagar-based prison rights activist Nadir Rana remarked that the verdicts have provided victims' families "a sense of justice and strengthened their faith in judiciary."

Under Section 407(1) of the BNSS, every death sentence issued by a sessions court must be submitted to the High Court for confirmation and cannot be executed without ratification.

Judge Diwakar first gained national prominence in May 2022 as civil judge, senior division, in Varanasi, when he ordered a videographic survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex following a plea by five Hindu women seeking worship rights at the Shringar Gauri site. On May 16, 2022, a cylindrical object found in the wuzukhana was claimed as a Shivling by Hindu petitioners, while the Muslim side disputed the claim; the area was sealed and the Supreme Court subsequently transferred proceedings to the Varanasi district judge.