Long delay in disposing off mercy pleas by President or Governor of persons convicted under anti-terror laws or similar statutes cannot be a ground for commutation of death sentence, the Supreme Court held today.
A two-judge bench of the apex court gave this landmark judgement while rejecting the plea of Khalistani terrorist and death row convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar in a judgement that paves the way for his execution and can have a bearing on the fate of over 20 convicts facing execution.
Three persons are awaiting execution after conviction under TADA in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case while sandalwood smuggler Veerappan's associates are facing death in a Karnataka jail under the provisions of the same law.
Observing that India is one of the worst victims of terrorism, the apex court held that not to entertain the mercy plea of people convicted terrorist and other serious offences by the President or the Governor cannot be characterised as arbitrary and the Court cannot exercise power of judicial review only on the ground of undue delay.
The bench comprising bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya said that the apex court's earlier judgements holding that long delay may be one of the grounds for commutation of the death sentence cannot be invoked in cases where a person is convicted for offence under TADA or similar statutes.
