General News
Death Penalty cases – Centre’s review petition dismissed by Supreme Court of India
March 13, 2014 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
New Delhi, India (March 13, 2014): As per information the Supreme Court of India has dismissed Government of India (GOI)’s review petition against SCI’s 21 January decision on death penalty cases in which it had ruled that inordinate delay by the President in deciding constitutional review petitions by death row convicts turns to be a valid clemency ground.
Supreme Court of India
“Permission for hearing in open court is rejected. We have carefully gone through the review petitions and the connected papers. We find no merit in the review petitions and the same are accordingly dismissed,” said a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice P Sathasivam on March 12.
As many as 15 death row convicts were granted clemency by 21 January verdict.
The Centre, however, filed a review petition contending it was beyond the powers of the court to sit over appeal in such matters.
Centre says commutation of death penalty awarded for a heinous crime merely on ground of delay in deciding mercy petition by the President involved an intricate constitutional question of law which should have been referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench instead of being decided by a three-judge Bench.
The centre had also argued that convicts under TADA and other special/ terrorism laws should not be granted clemency even if there was inordinate delay by the President of India in deciding their constitutional review petitions seeking clemency.
Supreme Court of India is scheduled to hear curative petition of Sikh political prisoner Professor Devender Pal Singh Bhullar on 26 March. Prof. Bhullar has been on death row since 2001, while his arrest dates back to 1995.
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Related Topics: Death Penalty, SCI
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