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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Rajiv killers’ pleas in apex court now

Rajiv killers’ pleas in apex court now

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published Published on May 2, 2012   modified Modified on May 2, 2012
-Express News Service

Three killers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi will join families of several convicts on death row, including Devendra Pal Singh Bhullar, before the Supreme Court for commutation of their death penalty to life imprisonment owing to inordinate delay in mercy process.
 
Invoking its constitutional powers to transfer any case which raises “substantial questions of general importance”, a Supreme Court Bench led by Justice G S Singhvi on Tuesday moved the petitions of the three convicts out of Madras High Court’s jurisdiction to itself and listed the case for hearing on July 10.

Sriharan alias Murugan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan and A G Perarivalan alias Arivu had separately petitioned the Madras High Court shortly after the President dismissed their mercy petitions last year, after a delay of almost a decade.

The trio want their death penalty to be reduced to life imprisonment on the ground that the prolonged mercy process has caused them undue suffering.

Noting that the Supreme Court is already seized of identical cases of death row convicts across the country, Justice Singhvi said their petition deserves to join the ranks of those like Devender Pal Singh Bhullar.

The court is deciding on the broader question of whether “long delay in the decision of the mercy petitions entitles the convicts to seek commutation of death sentence”.

“In our opinion, that question is of substantial general importance and decision thereof is likely to affect large number of persons who have been convicted by the competent courts and sentenced to death and whose mercy petitions have remained pending for years together. Therefore, we are satisfied that it will be in the interest of justice to

transfer the three writ petitions pending before the Madras High Court to this court,” the Bench said in a judgment.

The court passed the order on a petition by one L K Venkat seeking transfer of their pleas out of Tamil Nadu on his fears that the free and fair hearings would not be possible in the state due to the surcharged atmosphere, favouring the death row convicts.

The court, however, declined to look into allegations raised in court that political tensions and “vitiated atmosphere” in the state would impede the Madras High Court from objectively applying its mind to the convicts’ plea for commutation.

On a petition by the three death row convicts, the Madras High Court had earlier stayed their hanging and had issued notices to the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government.

The three convicts had challenged before the High Court the sentence despite the same having been upheld earlier by the apex court and the President having rejected their mercy pleas subsequently

The Indian Express, 2 May, 2012, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rajiv-killers-pleas-in-apex-court-now/944114/


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