The Supreme Court declined to commute the death sentence of Khalistani terrorist Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, found guilty of killing nine and injuring 17 in a bomb attack in Delhi 20 years ago. The court rejected the argument that death convicts whose execution is delayed should be spared the gallows.
“Delay in the disposal of mercy petitions does not justify review of President’s decision rejecting it,” the court said. This repudiates the view that those who have been in the condemned cell for long have suffered enough.
The court’s rejection of Bhullar’s plea for commuting capital sentence to life term mainly on the ground of the eight-year delay in deciding his mercy plea will impact the pending petitions of 16 others on death row. They include Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan.
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