Shimla, Sept. 24 -- The Himachal Pradesh high court on Tuesday acquitted a convict and commuted the death sentence of two to life term in the 2014 kidnapping and murder of four-year-old Shimla boy Yug Gupta.

A division bench of justice Vivek Singh Thakur and justice Rakesh Kainthla ruled that convicts, Chander Sharma, 26 and Vikrant Bakshi, 22, would remain in jail "till their last breath". Tejinder Pal, 29, was acquitted of all charges.

"The material on record does not show that the accused cannot be reformed, hence we are unable to confirm the death penalty imposed by the trial court despite our indignation towards the crime," ruled the bench.

The case had been referred to the high court by the Shimla sessions judge for confirmation ...