New Delhi, Feb 22: The Supreme Court has expressed concern over the delay at the levels of the centre and the state governments in disposing off mercy petitions filed by prisoners facing death sentence. It has asked them to furnish records of such pending cases.
Issuing directions, a Division Bench of the Apex Court comprising Justice G S Singhvi and Justice S J Mukhopadhyay said the state Home Secretaries would send records of all the cases of mercy pleas within three days to the Centre. The Centre would in turn place the same before the Court.
The court also made it clear that if records are not sent by the state governments, they would do so “at their own risk.” Expressing serious concern on the inordinate delay in disposing off the petitions, the Court observed that there have been cases where mercy pleas were decided after 11 years which is a sufficiently long time.
“From the date mercy petitions reach competent authority, what was done?” the Bench further observed.
At the same time the court rejected the Centre’s contention that the delay was caused due to repeated petitions filed by condemned prisoners in courts. “There is no bar in filing repeated petitions,” the judges observed.
The court’s directions came in response to a  petition filed by Punjab terrorist Devender Pal Singh Bhullar who was awarded death penalty for triggering a bomb blast here in September 1993 on Raisina Road outside the Youth Congress office killing nine people. He has been pleading that his capital punishment be commuted to life imprisonment as there has been an “inordinate” delay in deciding his mercy petition and he is not mentally sound.
The Supreme Court had on March 26, 2002, dismissed Bhullar’s appeal against the death sentence, awarded by the trial court and endorsed by the Delhi High Court. He had then filed a review petition which was also dismissed on December 17, 2002. Bhullar then moved a curative petition which too had been rejected by the apex court on March 12, 2003. Bhullar, meanwhile, filed a mercy petition before the President on January 14, 2003.
The President, after a lapse of over eight years, dismissed his mercy plea on May 25 this year.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:30:00 Mecca time
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