A 4-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam granted life to
Bhullar on the ground of delay on the part of the government in
deciding his mercy plea and also on the basis of his present medical
condition.
The bench, also comprising justices R.M. Lodha, H.L. Dattu and S.J.
Mukhopadhaya, passed the order on a curative petition filed by Bhullar’s
wife Navneet Kaur.
She pleaded before the court to relook into its verdict, in which
Bhullar’s plea for commuting the sentence was rejected, in view of its
recent judgment where it was held that delay in deciding mercy plea can
be a ground for commutation of death penalty.
Note
Bhullar was convicted and awarded death penalty for triggering a bomb
blast in New Delhi in September 1993, which killed nine persons and
injured 25 others, including then Youth Congress president M.S. Bitta.
The bench had on January 31 stayed Bhullar’s execution and had agreed to
review its judgment by which it had rejected the 1993 Delhi bomb blast
convict’s plea to commute his death sentence to life term.
It had issued notice to the Centre and Delhi government on a curative
petition and had also directed the Institute of Human Behaviour and
Allied Sciences (IHBAS), where Bhullar is being treated, to file a
medical report on the condition of the death row convict who is alleged
to be suffering from mental illness.
The SC had on March 26, 2002 dismissed Bhullar’s appeal
against the death sentence awarded by a trial court in August 2001 and
endorsed by the Delhi High Court in 2002.
He had filed a review petition which was also dismissed on December 17,
2002. Bhullar had then moved a curative petition which too had been
rejected by the apex court on March 12, 2003.
The SC had on January 21,2014 said that inordinate and inexplicable delay by
government in deciding mercy plea of death row convicts can be a ground
for commuting their sentence
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