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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | No information on Kalam’s letter on mercy pleas, home ministry says -Himanshi Dhawan

No information on Kalam’s letter on mercy pleas, home ministry says -Himanshi Dhawan

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published Published on Nov 6, 2013   modified Modified on Nov 6, 2013
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: Has the government lost or misplaced former President APJ Abdul Kalam's letter asking for a review of mercy petition cases? The ministry of home affairs has summarily dismissed an RTI application saying it has "no information'' on the subject. Ironically, the former President has written about his reservations on death penalty in his book 'Turning Point: A Journey Through Challenges'.

The home ministry's denial was in response to an application by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative's Venkatesh Nayak who sought all correspondence between the President and the ministry on the guidelines for dealing with mercy petitions under Article 72 of the Constitution. He sought correspondence by former presidents including K R Narayanan, A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil.

The home ministry's curt reply was it had no information on the subject. While there is no information on whether other presidents had written to the government or not, officials working with Kalam confirmed that a letter was sent to MHA during his tenure.

In his book, Kalam discusses capital punishment and notes that a substantial number of cases were pending in Rashtrapati Bhawan for many years. He writes, "I thought I should get all these cases examined from a normal citizen's point of view in terms of crime, intensity of crime and the social and financial status of the individuals who were convicted and awarded capital punishment. This study revealed to my surprise that almost all the cases which were pending had a social and economic bias. This gave me an impression that we were punishing the person who was least involved in the enmity and who did not a have a direct motive for committing the crime.''

He adds, "In my view, while courts are hearing the capital punishment cases, they should alert the law-enforcing authorities to intelligently find out the source of sustenance of the individual who is being punished and that of his family. This kind of analysis may lead to the real person and the motive which led to the crime.''

Sources close to Kalam confirmed that the study was sent to the MHA with the recommendation that financial, sociological and humane grounds be considered before a mercy petition was rejected.


The Times of India, 6 November, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-information-on-Kalams-letter-on-mercy-pleas-home-ministry-says/articleshow/25285925.cms


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