Plea in SC seeks framing of rules for time-bound disposal of mercy petitions

A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking a direction to frame specific procedures, rules, and guidelines for time-bound disposal of mercy petitions.

The plea filed by advocate Shiv Kumar Tripathi has sought a direction to the government to fix a time frame within which the mercy petition has to be decided and the consequences of not disposing it within such a time frame.

The plea says that the rights of the convicts, as well as victims, are being violated due to a lack of framing of proper procedures, rules, and guidelines.

"Since there is no specified written procedure, rules and guidelines for disposing of the mercy petitions within a time-bound manner, the same is resulting in arbitrariness and discrimination in the disposal of the mercy petitions. It also leads to undue delay in disposal of the mercy petitions and thus giving rise to public unrest and creates doubts and suspicion in the mind of Public at large," states the plea.

The petitioner further contended that in quite a few cases there is a prolonged delay in disposal of the mercy petitions and in such cases the convicts are able to take the benefit of the delay and get their death sentences converted into imprisonment for life. "The victims and their families feel cheated in such cases," it added.

Meanwhile, one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case, last week sought withdrawal of his mercy petition. He had filed the mercy petition last month.