New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stopped the execution of terrorist Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar and sought a medical report on his mental health. Bhullar’s family had said that he should not be hanged because he is mentally unwell.
In April last year, the Supreme Court had refused to commute his death sentence to life in prison on the grounds of mental illness and a delay by the President of India in deciding his clemency appeal. His family has been challenging the decision to hang him since then.
Their case, judges said today, could be affected by a landmark ruling of the Supreme Court last week which commuted the death sentences of 15 convicts and found that inordinate and inexplicable delays in carrying out an execution are grounds for reducing the penalty.
The judges who handed out last week’s verdict also said that mental illness such as schizophrenia and the use of solitary confinement could make a convict eligible for a reduced sentence.
For death row prisoners, the final stage of appeal is a clemency petition that is forwarded by the Union Home Ministry to the President of the country. The President’s office often stonewalls on mercy petitions that the ministry says should be rejected.
The president’s powers in deciding clemency petitions are limited. The recommendation of the Home Ministry can be returned for reconsideration – but only once, after which the president is constitutionally obliged to follow the ministry’s lead. However, there is no set time limit for providing the presidential signature, leaving room for endless delays.
Bureau Report
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