The Supreme Court today laid down 12 guidelines for authorities in dealing with death-row prisoners saying their solitary confinement is "unconstitutional" and rejection of their mercy pleas must be intimated in writing to them and their kin.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam formulated the guidelines after noting that there are "disparities" in the jail manuals on how death row inmates should be treated.
"We have already seen the provisions of various state prison manuals and the actual procedure to be followed in dealing with mercy petitions and execution of convicts. In view of the disparities in implementing the already existing laws, we intend to frame the following guidelines for safeguarding the interest of the death row convicts," it said.
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The guidelines laid down the procedure to be followed while placing the mercy plea before the President saying all the required documents and records should be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in "one stroke" instead of "piece-meal" basis.
It also said that after getting all the details, the MHA should convey its recommendations to the President "within a reasonable and rational time" and send periodical reminders if there is no response from the office of the President.
The apex court noted that while most prison manuals have a provision for informing death row inmates and their family on rejection of their mercy plea by the President, the same is not informed to them in writing and said rejection should be communicated in writing.
The bench also observed that no prison manual has a provision for communicating rejection of mercy plea by the governor and said that since the convict has a right to send a mercy petition to the Governor, "he is entitled to be informed in writing of the decision".
The court also said that death convicts are entitled "to receive a copy of the rejection of the mercy petition by the President and the Governor".
