New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted life to 15 condemned prisoners languishing in jails for several years after being awarded capital punishment, by ruling that the death sentence of a convict can be commuted to life imprisonment due to delays by the government in taking a decision on mercy petitions or due to mental illness.
“Inordinate and unreasonable delay attribute to torture. Whether the convict is a terrorist or an ordinary criminal, delay is a ground for commutation of death sentence,” said the verdict by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam.
The ruling said that prolonged imprisonment of convicts awaiting execution not only amounted to cruelty and had a “dehumanising effect” on them but also violated the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The court also ruled that a death convict suffering from mental insanity and schizophrenia cannot be hanged.
The verdict was on the basis of an appeal by Simon, Gnana Prakash, Madaiah and Bilavendra, four members of the gang led by sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.
They were convicted for killing 22 policemen in April 1993 and sentenced to death on January 29, 2004. Their mercy plea was rejected on February 13, 2013. The court had on February 20 extended the stay on their hanging for six months.
The order will impact the case of Khalistani terrorist Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, whose mercy plea was rejected by a two-judge bench of the court in April last year.
Next: A ray of hope for Rajiv killers
A ray of hope for Rajiv killers
Chennai: The Supreme Court order giving life term to 15 death row prisoners on the ground of inordinate delay in deciding on their mercy pleas, has brought cheer to the campaigners fighting for the same relief to the three condemned convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Perarivalan, Santhan and Murugan can now smile.
The indomitable Arputhammal, mother of Perarivalan, has been knocking on every possible door pleading for mercy for her son, who was barely 19 when he was picked up by the Special Investigation Team that probed the murder by the LTTE suicide killer on May 21, 1991.
Arivu, as he is known among the family and friends, was accused of procuring the nine volt battery used in the belt bomb used in the assassination.
While he is a local Tamil, Santhan and Murugan were accused to have been members of the LTTE intelligence wing and providing logistic support for the murder.
Next: No noose is good news
No noose is good news
Kruthi Gonwar
Hyderabad: Many death row convicts across the country are now seeing hope on the horizon as the latest Supreme Court verdict on mercy petitions has held that the death sentence can be commuted to life imprisonment if the government delays in deciding the mercy plea of convicts.
The apex court on Tuesday commuted the death sentences of 15 convicts nationwide.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday also ruled that no convict on death row can be put in solitary confinement and that a death row convict suffering from a mental ailment cannot be hung.
Human rights activists say death row convicts are often locked in cells and beaten up. They are put in solitary confinement in case they get aggressive with other prisoners.
D. Krishna Raju, director-general, prisons said, “As far as Andhra Pradesh prisons are concerned, we have never put any prisoner in solitary confinement and have always treated them like regular prisoners.
If any prisoner creates panic or chaos, only then he is separated from the bigger group. And no prisoner with a mental ailment has been punished. As per the law, he has to be completely cured, only then he can be hung.”
Bondada Nagarju, Krishna Kutti, Pulla Rao, and Vijayvardhan are the three death row prisoners in different prisons across the state whose death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in the recent past.
The death sentence pronounced on two others was commuted to life by former President K.R. Narayanan and they are currently serving their sentence in Visakhapatnam prison.
Kasturi Siva Nageshwar Rao is on death row at the Rajahmundry Central prison. His appeal against the sentence is pending before the AP High Court.
Next: Breathe easy, life ahead
Breathe easy, life ahead
J.Stalin
Chennai: With the Supreme Court coming down heavily on the delay in executing the death sentence and citing it as a reason for commuting the death sentence of 15 condemned convicts to life imprisonment, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the three death row convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
Former Prime MinÂisÂter Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991 at an election rally at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.
The three death row convicts Santhan, Murugan and PerarivÂalan moved mercy petitions before the PreÂsident of IndÂia in 2000, whiÂch were rejeÂcted in 2011. Contending that there was inordinate delay of 11 years in disposing of theÂir mercy pleÂas and theÂy were in prÂison for more than 22 years, they moved the Madras hÂigh court whiÂch stayed their execution that was fixed for SepteÂmber 9.
Subsequently, their petitions were transferred to the Supreme Court and are pending.
Chandrasekhar, counsel for Perarivalan says, “It is a historically significant judgment. This dictum should be followed in Arivu’s case, which comes up for hearing on January 29.
If Tada convicts who served just three and five years in prison have been commuted today, Arivu, Santhan and Murugan who have been suffering 11-year delay since filing the mercy plea should definitely be commuted. I am very happy.”
M Radhakrishnan, counsel for Nalini, whose death sentence was commuted to life by the TN government, said the apex court had held that inordinate and unexplained delay in disposing of the mercy petition by the President would be a sufficient ground for commutation of death into life imprisonment.
This judgment will be applicable to the cases of Santhan, Murugan and PerarivÂalan, whose mercy petitions were rejected by the President after 11 years.
A constitutional bench ruling given by the Supreme Court in 1989 in Trivenibin’s case has been fully followed by the apex court today.
If there was any unexplained delay on the part of the President of India in disposing of a mercy petition of a death convict, the death convict was entitled to plead before the high court or the Supreme court that he cannot be executed and that his death sentence should be commuted as imprisonment for life”.
The lawyer also expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would commute the death sentence of the three Rajiv case convicts as well and theÂreafter, the state governmeÂnt would order their releÂasÂe in accordance with their policy of premature release of life convicts completing 20 years in jail.
B Sriramalu, senior advocate and former public prosecutor, said there was no doubt that the three Rajiv case convicts would be benefited by the apex court order. “Once the Supreme court takes the view that long delay can be a ground for commuting the sentence, on the same ground these convicts are entitled for the benefit of commutation of death sentence to life”, he told DC.
