Prez commutes death sentence of four prisoners

Three mercy petitions of four condemned prisoners namely Om Prakash of Uttarakhand, Satish of Uttar Pradesh and Karan Singh and Kunwar Bahadur Singh of Uttar Pradesh were considered under Article 72 of the Constitution and their death sentences were commuted into imprisonment for life, Home Minister P Chidambaram told his monthly press conference here today.

Article 72 gives power to the President to grant pardons, etc, and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases.

"The President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence," it says.

Om Prakash, a domestic help, was convicted for killing a retired Brigadier and his two family members in Dehradun 18 years ago. Whereas Satish was convicted for rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.

Whereas, Karan Singh and Kunwar Bahadur Singh were sentenced to death for brutally killing five persons of a family.

In a statement giving details of the activities of his ministry during the month, the Home Minister said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was declared to be an 'Unlawful Association' for a period of two years, under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Chidambaram also held a meeting with Chief of Air Staff and Defence Secretary regarding deployment of helicopters in the left wing extremism affected states.

Besides, a meeting with the Directors General of Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has also taken place to review the situation in the LWE-affected states.