Overview
- Justices Ajey Gadkari and Neela Gokhale affirmed the 2014 trial court conviction and sentence, dismissing Pathan’s appeal.
- The court rejected pleas by the Maharashtra government and Atanu Purkayastha for a death sentence under the rarest‑of‑rare doctrine.
- The judges clarified that the sentence means imprisonment for the remainder of Pathan’s natural life and ordered no parole or furlough due to his 2016 parole jump and later rearrest.
- The judgment says the prosecution proved guilt beyond reasonable doubt through DNA findings, stolen keys, last‑seen evidence and post‑crime confessions, establishing a sexual motive.
- Investigators established that Pathan cut power to the flat, used duplicate keys to enter, attacked when she resisted an attempted sexual assault and was arrested at Mumbai Central the next day.