File photo of Bhullar, whose mercy petition was rejected by the President in May 2011
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition by death row convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, to review its rejection of his plea for mercy last year.
Bhullar was convicted of triggering a bomb blast in Delhi in 1993 and killing nine people. His mercy petition was rejected by the President in May 2011. Last year, a Supreme Court bench also rejected his plea for mercy, after which he filed a curative petition for a review.
This comes days after the Supreme Court commuted the sentences of 15 death row convicts, ruling that delays in their execution were grounds to change their sentences to life imprisonment.
"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," read a ruling from the court on an appeal by four members of the gang led by notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. They filed their mercy petition in 2004 and nine years later, their appeal was rejected.
The top court accepted that prolonged imprisonment of a convict awaiting execution amounts to cruelty and violates the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court also ruled that a prisoner must be executed within 14 days of a clemency appeal being rejected.
Bhullar was convicted of triggering a bomb blast in Delhi in 1993 and killing nine people. His mercy petition was rejected by the President in May 2011. Last year, a Supreme Court bench also rejected his plea for mercy, after which he filed a curative petition for a review.
This comes days after the Supreme Court commuted the sentences of 15 death row convicts, ruling that delays in their execution were grounds to change their sentences to life imprisonment.
"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," read a ruling from the court on an appeal by four members of the gang led by notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. They filed their mercy petition in 2004 and nine years later, their appeal was rejected.
The top court accepted that prolonged imprisonment of a convict awaiting execution amounts to cruelty and violates the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court also ruled that a prisoner must be executed within 14 days of a clemency appeal being rejected.
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