The Union Govt on Saturday March 01,2014 filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its verdict that
said death sentence can be commuted over delay in deciding mercy
petition.
The Supreme Court of India(SC)had, in January 2014, 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," the court said in its ruling, which 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 verdict was based on an appeal by four members of the gang led by notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.
The Supreme Court of India(SC)had, in January 2014 commuted the death sentence of three men convicted of killing former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to life in prison, rejecting the government's view that an 11-year delay in deciding their mercy petition was not agony for them.
Note
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday Jan 21,2014 commuted death penalty of 15 convicts on the grounds of inordinate delay and mental illness.
The SC has ordered fixing a time limit for sending and receiving all documents pertaining to death row convicts
The SC said the death penalty can be commuted when there is an inordinate and inexplicable delay in deciding the mercy plea of the convicts.
In two judgments on January 21,2014 which led to the commutation of death sentence for 15 convicts, including the Rajiv Gandhi killers, Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan, the bench headed by chief justice P Sathasivam made scathing remarks against the president, the governor's office and home ministry officials.
"Prolonged delay in execution of death sentence has a dehumanising effect on the accused. Delay caused by circumstances beyond the prisoners' control mandates commutation of death sentence," said the chief justice.
"Right to seek for mercy is a constitutional right and not at the discretion or whims of the executive. We sincerely hope that the mercy petitions can be disposed of at a much faster pace," said the chief justice.
The SC said schizophrenia, insanity and mental illness can be reasons for commuting death penalty and the convicts should be given adequate medical treatment and legal aid. The order also said that solitary confinement of a death row convict and other prisoners is unconstitutional
While the death penalty of 13 convicts has been commuted to life on the ground of inordinate delay on part of President to decide their mercy pleas, two others were given life sentence after they became mentally ill after several years on death row.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday Jan 21,2014 commuted the death sentences of 15 convicts, most of them on grounds of a delay in the disposal of their mercy petitions
A look at the cases leading to their sentencing, and how long they spent on death row.
They killed 8 of their own, then spent 12 years in uncertainty: Sonia & Sanjeev – On August 23, 2001, her 19th birthday, Sonia and her husband Sanjeev murdered eight members of her family. She believed she was being cut off from the family property, said to be worth hundreds of crores of rupees.
Four Veerappan gangsters who aged in prison: A Simon, Gnanaprakasam, M Bilavendran and Mesekara Madiah – They were tried and convicted as members of the sandalwood gang led by the late Veerappan in the Sathyamangalam forest that spreads across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Relatives, however, claim that the four were innocent villagers.
Crimes of Passion: Gurmeet Singh &Jafar Ali – Gurmeet is convicted of killing 13 members of his family in Pilibhit in August 1986. It was a murder driven by anger because Gurmeet’s family did not approve of his friendship with Lakha Singh. The two eventually committed the murders together. Lodged in Fatehgarh central jail, Jafar Ali, now 50, suspected his wife of an extramarital relationship and murdered not only her but their five children too, slitting their throats at their house at Etawaha in July 2002.
A gambler, two rapists and five murders for property: Praveen Kumar, Shivu Munishetty, Jadeswamy Rangashetty Suresh, and Ramji Chauhan – Praveen Kumar, now 55, of Mangalore was convicted of murdering four of his relatives for their jewellery to repay a gambling debt. Shivu Munishetty, 31, and Jadeswamy Rangashetty, 25, of Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district, were convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of an 18-year-old and sentenced to death on October 15, 2001. Suresh, 60, and Ramji Chauhan, 45, hail from Varanasi. They are brothers-in-law, Suresh having married Ramji’s sister.
Relief on grounds of mental health: Maganlal Barela & Sundar Singh – In the remoteness of his forest home near Kaneria village, 85 km from Bhopal, Barela had hacked to death his five daughters, aged six to one, in a fit of frenzy on June 11, 2010. n Meharghetti village of what is now Uttarakhand, Sundar Singh killed five relatives — cousin Pratap Singh and his family — in 1989. It was over a small plot of land that each cousin wanted as his share
The Supreme Court of India(SC)had, in January 2014, 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," the court said in its ruling, which 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 verdict was based on an appeal by four members of the gang led by notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.
The Supreme Court of India(SC)had, in January 2014 commuted the death sentence of three men convicted of killing former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to life in prison, rejecting the government's view that an 11-year delay in deciding their mercy petition was not agony for them.
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday Jan 21,2014 commuted death penalty of 15 convicts on the grounds of inordinate delay and mental illness.
The SC has ordered fixing a time limit for sending and receiving all documents pertaining to death row convicts
The SC said the death penalty can be commuted when there is an inordinate and inexplicable delay in deciding the mercy plea of the convicts.
In two judgments on January 21,2014 which led to the commutation of death sentence for 15 convicts, including the Rajiv Gandhi killers, Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan, the bench headed by chief justice P Sathasivam made scathing remarks against the president, the governor's office and home ministry officials.
"Prolonged delay in execution of death sentence has a dehumanising effect on the accused. Delay caused by circumstances beyond the prisoners' control mandates commutation of death sentence," said the chief justice.
"Right to seek for mercy is a constitutional right and not at the discretion or whims of the executive. We sincerely hope that the mercy petitions can be disposed of at a much faster pace," said the chief justice.
The SC said schizophrenia, insanity and mental illness can be reasons for commuting death penalty and the convicts should be given adequate medical treatment and legal aid. The order also said that solitary confinement of a death row convict and other prisoners is unconstitutional
While the death penalty of 13 convicts has been commuted to life on the ground of inordinate delay on part of President to decide their mercy pleas, two others were given life sentence after they became mentally ill after several years on death row.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday Jan 21,2014 commuted the death sentences of 15 convicts, most of them on grounds of a delay in the disposal of their mercy petitions
A look at the cases leading to their sentencing, and how long they spent on death row.
They killed 8 of their own, then spent 12 years in uncertainty: Sonia & Sanjeev – On August 23, 2001, her 19th birthday, Sonia and her husband Sanjeev murdered eight members of her family. She believed she was being cut off from the family property, said to be worth hundreds of crores of rupees.
Four Veerappan gangsters who aged in prison: A Simon, Gnanaprakasam, M Bilavendran and Mesekara Madiah – They were tried and convicted as members of the sandalwood gang led by the late Veerappan in the Sathyamangalam forest that spreads across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Relatives, however, claim that the four were innocent villagers.
Crimes of Passion: Gurmeet Singh &Jafar Ali – Gurmeet is convicted of killing 13 members of his family in Pilibhit in August 1986. It was a murder driven by anger because Gurmeet’s family did not approve of his friendship with Lakha Singh. The two eventually committed the murders together. Lodged in Fatehgarh central jail, Jafar Ali, now 50, suspected his wife of an extramarital relationship and murdered not only her but their five children too, slitting their throats at their house at Etawaha in July 2002.
A gambler, two rapists and five murders for property: Praveen Kumar, Shivu Munishetty, Jadeswamy Rangashetty Suresh, and Ramji Chauhan – Praveen Kumar, now 55, of Mangalore was convicted of murdering four of his relatives for their jewellery to repay a gambling debt. Shivu Munishetty, 31, and Jadeswamy Rangashetty, 25, of Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district, were convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of an 18-year-old and sentenced to death on October 15, 2001. Suresh, 60, and Ramji Chauhan, 45, hail from Varanasi. They are brothers-in-law, Suresh having married Ramji’s sister.
Relief on grounds of mental health: Maganlal Barela & Sundar Singh – In the remoteness of his forest home near Kaneria village, 85 km from Bhopal, Barela had hacked to death his five daughters, aged six to one, in a fit of frenzy on June 11, 2010. n Meharghetti village of what is now Uttarakhand, Sundar Singh killed five relatives — cousin Pratap Singh and his family — in 1989. It was over a small plot of land that each cousin wanted as his share
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