After being beaten with sticks by villagers, snake undergoes MRI scan for broken spine
Mumbai: An injured snake, which was found in a Mumbai suburb, underwent an MRI scan for its broken spine and is on recovery path after being put through treatment.
The snake, a bamboo pit viper, was found beaten with sticks in Dahisar. The venomous serpent was spotted by a local hawaldar, who handed it over to Anil Kubal, a snake rescuer.
The serpent was taken to the clinic of veterinary doctor Deepa Katyal in suburban Chembur where it was found its spine had got damaged, Kubal said Thursday.
“The next step was to assess the actual damage to the spine and for that we needed high-end technology such as MRI. Our request (for a scan) was accepted by radiologist Dr Ravi Thapar who carried out the MRI scan for the bamboo pit viper,” Kubal said.
Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scanning uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to produce images of body structures.
“For the first time I have performed an MRI scan on a snake. The machine is generally used for humans,” said Dr Thapar.
According to Dr Trisha DSouza, a veterinarian who was also involved in treatment, the reptile is responding to the medication.
“We are using tubes to feed medicines instead of injecting them. The damaged part has shown recovery and the reptile is recuperating,” DSouza said.
The reptile will soon be released into woods, said Kubal.
“Dr Katyal has used cold laser treatment for the snake. It was administered for healing the internal inflammation and easing the pain. “As the results are good, (and) once the snake recovers fully, we will release it in the forest,” Kubal said.
“We are really happy that we could use such high-end and costly technology to rescue the snake,” he said.
courtesy : hindustantimes.com
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High courts upheld only 8 per cent of death sentences; SC confirms none in recent years: Report
New Delhi (PTI): Highlighting that a high acquittal rate of death row convicts by the Supreme Court and high courts demonstrates a pattern of "erroneous or unjustified convictions", a study of 10 years of death penalty data has revealed that the top court did not confirm any death sentences in recent years.
The study by Square Circle Clinic, a criminal laws advocacy group with the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, found that an overwhelming majority of death sentences imposed by trial courts did not withstand scrutiny at higher judicial levels. Acquittals far outnumbered confirmations at both the high courts and Supreme Court levels.
According to the report, the trial courts across India awarded 1,310 death sentences in 822 cases between 2016 and 2025. High courts considered 842 of these sentences in confirmation proceedings but upheld only 70 or 8.31 per cent.
In contrast, 258 death sentences (30.64 per cent) resulted in acquittals. The study noted that the acquittal rate at the high court level was nearly four times the confirmation rate.
Data showed that of the 70 death sentences confirmed by high courts, the Supreme Court decided 38 and did not uphold a single one. The apex court has confirmed no death sentences between 2023 and 2025.
"Wrongful or erroneous or unjustified convictions, then, are not random or freak accidents in the Indian criminal justice system. The data indicates they are a persistent and serious systemic concern," the report said.
Over the last decade, high courts adjudicated 1,085 death sentences in 647 cases, confirming only 106 (9.77 per cent). During this period, 326 persons in 191 cases, were acquitted.
The report attributed low confirmation rates to the appellate judiciary’s concerns regarding failures in due process. "This coincides with increased Supreme Court scrutiny of safeguards at the sentencing stage," the report said.
Of the 153 death sentences decided by the apex court over the last decade, the accused were acquitted in 38 cases. In 2025 alone, high courts overturned death sentences into acquittals in 22 out of 85 cases (over 25 per cent). The same year, Supreme Court acquitted accused persons in more than half of the death penalty cases it decided (10 out of 19), the report said.
The study highlighted that 364 persons who were ultimately acquitted "should not even have been convicted and unjustifiably suffered the trauma of death row". It added that such failures extend beyond adjudication and reflect serious lapses in investigation and prosecution.
The question of remedies for wrongful convictions remains pending before the Supreme Court. In September 2025, three persons acquitted by the apex court filed writ petitions seeking compensation from the state and argued that their wrongful convictions violated their fundamental right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
"In 2022, the Supreme Court crystallised a sentencing process in Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh , and mandated all courts to follow those guidelines before imposing or confirming a death sentence," the report read.
In 2025, the apex court held in Vasanta Sampat Dupare v. Union of India that death penalty sentencing hearings form part of the right to a fair trial and stressed that capital punishment can be imposed only after a constitutionally compliant sentencing process.
"However, even at the high courts whether the process mandated under Manoj is being complied with is in doubt,” the report said.
