Supreme Court issues landmark guidelines relating to Death Penalty;

A three Judge Bench of the Supreme Court issued landmark guidelines relating to Death Penalty, while allowing all the 13 Writ Petitions filed by 15 Death Convicts in various cases. The Bench consisted of Chief Justice P.Sathasivam, Justice Ranjan Gagoi and Justice Shiv Kirti Singh commuted the death sentence imposed on Suresh, Ramji, Bilavendran, Simon, Gnanprakasam, Madiah ,Praveen Kumar, Gurmeet Singh, Sonia, Sanjeev, Sundar Singh, Jafar Ali, Magan Lal Berala, Shivu and Jadeswamy. The Supreme Court also overruled the Two Judge Bench Judgment in Bhullar Case which held that a death sentence imposed on a prisoner was convicted for a terrorist act cannot be commuted on the ground of delay.While concluding the Judgment Justice Sathasivam said;"Right to seek for mercy under Article 72/161 of the Constitution is a constitutional right and not at the discretion or whims of the executive. Every Constitutional duty must be fulfilled with due care and diligence; otherwise judicial interference is the command of the Constitution for upholding its values"."Remember, retribution has no Constitutional value in our largest democratic country. In India, even an accused has a de facto protection under the Constitution and it is the Court's duty to shield and protect the same. Therefore, we make it clear that when the judiciary interferes in such matters, it does not really interfere with the power exercised under Article 72/161 but only to uphold the de facto protection provided by the Constitution to every convict including death convicts"The following are the Guidelines issued by the Supreme Court on various procedures before executing a death convict.1. Solitary Confinement:Supreme Court, in Sunil Batra held that solitary or single cell confinement prior to rejection of the mercy petition by the President is unconstitutional. Almost all the Prison Manuals of the States provide necessary rules governing the confinement of death convicts. The rules should not be interpreted to run counter to the above ruling and violate Article 21 of the Constitution.2. Legal Aid:There is no provision in any of the Prison Manuals for providing legal aid, for preparing appeals or mercy petitions or for accessing judicial remedies after the mercy petition has been rejected. Various judgments of this Court have held that legal aid is a fundamental right under Article 21. Since this Court has also held that Article 21 rights inhere in a convict till his last breath, even after rejection of the mercy petition by the President, the convict can approach a writ court for commutation of the death sentence on the ground of supervening events, if available, and challenge the rejection of the mercy petition and legal aid should be provided to the convict at all stages. Accordingly, Superintendent of Jails are directed to intimate the rejection of mercy petitions to the nearest Legal Aid Centre apart from intimating the convicts.3. Procedure in placing the mercy petition before the President:The Government of India has framed certain guidelines for disposal of mercy petitions filed by the death convicts after disposal of their appeal by the Supreme Court. As and when any such petition is received or communicated by the State Government after the rejection by the Governor, necessary materials such as police records, judgment of the trial court, the High Court and the Supreme Court and all other connected documents should be called at once fixing a time limit for the authorities for forwarding the same to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Even here, though there are instructions, we have come across that in certain cases the Department calls for those records in piece-meal or one by one and in the same way, the forwarding Departments are also not adhering to the procedure/instructions by sending all the required materials at one stroke. This should be strictly followed to minimize the delay. After getting all the details, it is for the Ministry of Home Affairs to send the recommendation/their views to the President within a reasonable and rational time. Even after sending the necessary particulars, if there is no response from the office of the President, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs to send periodical reminders and to provide required materials for early decision.4. Communication of Rejection of Mercy Petition by the Governor: No prison manual has any provision for informing the prisoner or his family of the rejection of the mercy petition by the Governor. Since the convict has a constitutional right under Article 161 to make a mercy petition to the Governor, he is entitled to be informed in writing of the decision on that mercy petition. The rejection of the mercy petition by the Governor should forthwith be communicated to the convict and his family in writing or through some other mode of communication available.5. Communication of Rejection of the Mercy Petition by the President: Many, but not all, prison manuals have...

Supreme Court issues landmark guidelines relating to Death Penalty;

M.A.Rashid

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