New Delhi, India (February 19, 2014): The Supreme Court of India did not held hearing of commutation plea of Sikh political prisoner Professor Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, who has been on death row since 2001.
The court had taken up Prof. DPS Bhullar’s commutation plea earlier this month and had sought responses from Delhi and Central governments. Supreme Court had also sought medical report Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS) about Professor Devender Pal Singh Bhullar’s health condition.
As per information the IHBAS has already submitted it’s report and the Delhi government has favoured commutation of death sentence.
The court was scheduled to hear the matter today but a judge from the respective bench was reportedly on leave.
More details regarding next date of hearing were awaited at the time of writing this news.
It is notable that on January 21 the SCI commuted death sentences of 15 convicts holding that prolonged delay in deciding constitutional review petitions by the President of India resulting in undue delay in execution amounts a commutation ground where death penalties may be converted to life imprisonments. Yesterday (February 18) the Supreme Court of India commuted the death sentence of three Tamils who were sentenced to death in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case.