NAGPUR: The Supreme Court on Friday commuted the double death penalty of the two accused in the sensational murder case of Yug Chandak to 25 years life imprisonment without any remission till they complete the term.The eight-year-old son of dentist Dr Mukesh Chandak was murdered on September 1, 2014, sparking off huge outrage and protests across the city. It was the second such killing in the city within three years. Kush Katariya (8) had earlier been killed by Ayush Pugalia on October 11, 2011.The sessions court here on February 4, 2016, had awarded a rare double death penalty to Rajesh Daware (19) and Arvind Singh (23) for kidnapping and cold-blooded murder of the child for extracting Rs2 crore ransom. The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court upheld the verdict on May 5 the same year.The accused challenged this judgment in the apex court where the Maharashtra government roped in senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi. Dr Chandak also intervened through lawyers — Rajendra Daga and Raheel Mirza — praying for maintaining capital punishment to the murderers of his son.“Having considered all the circumstances and facts on record, we’re of considered view that the present case falls short of the ‘rarest of rare’ cases,” the bench comprising justices Uday Lalit, Indu Malhotra and Hemant Gupta said.While partly allowing the appeals of the accused, the judges added that the cause of justice will be effectively served by invoking the concept of special sentencing as evolved in the cases of Swamy Shraddananda and Sriharan.“The trial court’s judgement, later confirmed by the HC convicting the accused under Sections 302 and 364A, is confirmed. However, their death sentence is converted into life imprisonment. It means till the end of life and there shall not be any remission till the accused completes 25 years behind bars,” the bench ruled.The judges observed that the accused’s motive to take life was to become rich by not doing hard work and by demanding ransom after kidnapping an innocent boy.“The argument is that since they’re young and have no criminal antecedents, the sentence of death is not warranted. We don’t find any merit that being young or having no criminal antecedents are mitigating circumstances,” the judges said.