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‘Govt mercy criteria dubious’

Author:
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: March 28, 2012
URL: http://dailypioneer.com/nation/53161-govt-mercy-criteria-dubious-.html

At a time when the controversy surrounding the call for clemency to former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh' killer rages on, the Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the criteria adopted by Centre in taking calls on mercy for death row convicts.

Political parties and legislative bodies deliberately sit on mercy petitions to draw political mileage.

Wondering whether political support to a particular death row convict weighed in favour of delaying his mercy plea, the bench of Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhyay put up their concern to the Centre. "If someone sentenced to the gallows does not have any support, then what is to be done in such a case?" The bench was hearing a petition filed by another death row convict Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, whose mercy plea was rejected last year after an eight-year delay.

Similar to Bhullar's case, where no political party or civil rights group had stepped forward to support his mercy plea, the bench recalled the fate of Dhananjay Chatterjee, a lift operator in Kolkata, who was hanged to death for the rape and murder of a minor girl.

"There are several such cases of rape and murder similar to that of Dhananjay Chatterjee. But he was sentenced to death and except for his family members; nobody came forward to support his clemency. He was sent to the other world. What criteria did we adopt," the bench asked.

Even in Bhullar's case, Court noted that for the murder of nine persons, he has been on death row since August 25, 2001. Currently, he is undergoing treatment for acute depression at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) at Shahdara.

The Court did not lose sight of the recent decision of the Punjab Government to back for clemency to Balwant Singh Rajoana, the killer of Beant Singh in 1995. It said, "We are now witnessing resolutions from legislative bodies and political parties supporting clemency." The trend was earlier witnessed when the State assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir and Tamil Nadu debated and resolved on clemency to be awarded to Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal and Rajiv Gandhi's killers.

Framing the question for the Centre to answer, the bench asked, "What should be the criteria then if somebody has got support from any quarter whether political or non-political?" The bench even wished to know if there were any instances in the past where the Indian Government made representations for clemency to Indian prisoners awarded death sentence in other countries.

Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval assured the Court of taking instructions. Raval informed the Court that as on date, 15 petitions were pending with the President while 17 were decided and one mercy plea was kept pending with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Court felt that the delay results in claim of relief to both sides. On one hand, it could be argued that due to delay, the man's journey to his final destinations got deferred. But on the other, the convict can also claim commutation for having suffered all these years. "How long will you keep on waiting," the bench asked, aware of the fact that some mercy petitions have been pending with the Government for since as long as 11 years.

Preferential Treatment?

The Bench wanted to know what should be done if someone sentenced to the gallows did not have any political support to champion his mercy petition

It pointed to the case of murder-rape convict Dhananjay Chatterjee who was hanged when no one except his family appealed for clemency

The court took a serious note of legislative bodies and political parties supporting clemency pleas as in the case of Afzal Guru and Rajiv Gandhi’s killer

The bench also wished to know if there were any instances where the Indian Government made representations for clemency to Indian prisoners awarded death sentence in other countries
 
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