Case Note & Summary
The writ petitioner, a 70-year-old death row convict, challenged the rejection of his mercy petition by the President of India dated 04.01.2013, seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment. The petitioner was initially convicted and sentenced to death under Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, by the trial court on 08.01.2003, though the provision had been struck down by the Supreme Court in Mithu v. State of Punjab in 1983. The High Court upheld the death sentence after a split verdict was resolved by a third judge on 10.10.2003, and the Supreme Court dismissed the petitioner's appeal on 21.04.2005. The petitioner filed a mercy petition on 29.04.2005, which was forwarded to the State Governor and lay dormant for one year and seven months until 11.01.2007, when it was considered and rejected on 03.02.2007. A further mercy petition to the President was rejected on 04.01.2013. The petitioner contended before the High Court that three supervening circumstances vitiated the death sentence: first, an inordinate and unexplained delay of over seven years eight months in consideration of the mercy petition; second, illegal solitary confinement from the date of sentencing; and third, procedural lapses and non-application of mind by the authorities, including reliance on an unconstitutional provision and disregard of subsequent Supreme Court observations that his conviction was inconsistent with Mithu and Bachan Singh. The petitioner argued that these factors cumulatively rendered the death sentence unconstitutional under Article 21 of the Constitution. The State opposed the petition. After hearing the parties including an amicus curiae, the High Court reserved the matter for orders and subsequently pronounced the order. The extract provided does not include the final operative directions, but the detailed factual narration and arguments highlight the complex interplay between delay, solitary confinement, and procedural fairness in death penalty cases.
Headnote
A) Constitution of India, 1950 - Mercy Petition and Death Penalty - Delay as Supervening Circumstance - Article 21 - The petitioner contended that an inordinate and unexplained delay of 7 years 8 months 9 days in the consideration and disposal of his mercy petition by the State Governor and the President violated his right under Article 21 and constituted a supervening circumstance justifying commutation of the death sentence. The period between 30.05.2005 and 11.01.2007 remained unexplained. (Paras 6-7, 14) B) Criminal Procedure - Execution of Death Sentence - Solitary Confinement - Constitution of India, 1950, Article 21 - The petitioner argued that his illegal solitary confinement from 09.01.2003, the date of sentencing, for several years constituted a second supervening circumstance rendering the death sentence irreversible and violative of the right against inhuman treatment under Article 21. (Para 13) C) Criminal Law - Death Penalty - Non-application of Mind and Procedural Lapses - Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 303; Constitution of India, 1950, Articles 161, 21 - The petitioner challenged the rejection of his mercy petition on the ground of non-application of mind by the President, highlighting that the trial court relied on Section 303 IPC which had been declared unconstitutional, and that subsequent Supreme Court observations in Bariyar and Nath Dutta cases had noted the inconsistency of his conviction with binding precedents, yet these were ignored. (Paras 5, 8-9, 12) D) Constitution of India, 1950 - Supervening Circumstances in Death Penalty Cases - Cumulative Effect - Articles 21, 161 - The petitioner submitted that the cumulative effect of delay, solitary confinement, and procedural flaws rendered the death sentence unconstitutional, warranting commutation to life imprisonment. (Paras 12-13)
Issue of Consideration
Whether the execution of the death sentence should be stayed or commuted due to inordinate delay in consideration of mercy petition, illegal solitary confinement, and procedural lapses in the rejection of the mercy petition
