Inordinate and inexplicable delay in deciding mercy appeals of death row convicts or mental illness can be grounds for commuting the sentence, the Supreme Court said, granting relief to 15 condemned prisoners.
In a landmark judgment hailed by rights groups, a threejudge bench headed by Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam overruled the court’s own verdict delivered last year, saying inordinate delays in execution of a death sentence by the government amounted to torture, laying down guidelines in dealing with death-row prisoners.
The order was in response to a petition from 15 criminals, including four aides of forest brigand Veerappan, but would have consequences for a number of high-profile cases, with the court saying those suffering mental insanity and schizophrenia shouldn’t be hanged.
There are six mercy petitions pending with the home ministry.
Of the 15, two were granted relief on the grounds of mental illnesses. Another convict’s sentence was commuted as he was kept in solitary confinement for more than four years. The rest, including Veerappan aides, were given relief on ground of inordinate delay.
The right to seek mercy was a constitutional right and not a mere prerogative at the discretion or whims of the executive, the court said. It didn’t specify what amounted to inordinate delay but did say for each case, it would be decided individually.
“Like the death sentence is passed lawfully, the execution of the sentence must also be in consonance with the constitutional mandate...,” the court said.
Prison authorities must inform a convict’s family about dismissal of mercy plea 14 days before the day of execution, the court said. There was a huge uproar after it emerged that the family of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru allegedly got to know of his hanging after the sentence was carried out.
In a landmark judgment hailed by rights groups, a threejudge bench headed by Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam overruled the court’s own verdict delivered last year, saying inordinate delays in execution of a death sentence by the government amounted to torture, laying down guidelines in dealing with death-row prisoners.
The order was in response to a petition from 15 criminals, including four aides of forest brigand Veerappan, but would have consequences for a number of high-profile cases, with the court saying those suffering mental insanity and schizophrenia shouldn’t be hanged.
There are six mercy petitions pending with the home ministry.
Of the 15, two were granted relief on the grounds of mental illnesses. Another convict’s sentence was commuted as he was kept in solitary confinement for more than four years. The rest, including Veerappan aides, were given relief on ground of inordinate delay.
The right to seek mercy was a constitutional right and not a mere prerogative at the discretion or whims of the executive, the court said. It didn’t specify what amounted to inordinate delay but did say for each case, it would be decided individually.
“Like the death sentence is passed lawfully, the execution of the sentence must also be in consonance with the constitutional mandate...,” the court said.
Prison authorities must inform a convict’s family about dismissal of mercy plea 14 days before the day of execution, the court said. There was a huge uproar after it emerged that the family of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru allegedly got to know of his hanging after the sentence was carried out.
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