DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee has rejected the mercy petition of two death row convicts found guilty of raping and murdering an 18-year-old girl. With this, Mukherjee has rejected 11 mercy petitions awarding death penalty to 17 convicts -- the highest in the last 16 years.
Sources said there were no more mercy petitions pending with the President's office.
The latest whose mercy pleas were rejected are Karnataka duo Shivu and Jadeswamy who brutally raped and murdered an 18-year-old girl on October 15, 2001. The high court rejected the appeal and confirmed death penalty in November 2005. This was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2007.
Home ministry in April 2013 recommended rejection of their mercy petition following which two new mercy petitions were filed on Shivu's behalf. The petitions were filed by the condemned prisoner's mother Chellamma and by people and members from the Badrayyanahalli Kuratti Hosur gram panchayat. Subsequently, the case was sent to the President in June. Mukherjee rejected the petition on the advice of the home ministry.
Earlier, on July 22, he had acted on similar advice by the government to reject the mercy petition of Madhya Pradesh's Maganlal who was found guilty of murdering five of his daughters on June 11, 2010. Maganlal was handed death sentence by the district court which was upheld by both the high court and the SC. The MP governor rejected the mercy petition in 2012 which was confirmed by the home ministry. The hanging has been stayed by the Supreme Court.
President's powers to grant pardon arise from Article 72 of the Constitution that empowers him/her to pardon, grant reprieve or suspend, remit, commute sentence of person convicted of any offence. The President is guided by the home minister and the council of ministers.
Among the first mercy petitions to be disposed of by Mukherjee included Mumbai 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab's. He was executed in November 2012 which was the first hanging after 2004 and marked a sharp departure in India's policy towards death penalty.
Source: Times of India, August 16, 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment