Mercy Petition and Supreme Court

“Right to seek for mercy 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.”

-Honourable Supreme Court

In another landmark decision that will ensure that there was no repeat of the Afzal Guru like execution, the court said, there has to be 14 days gap between the communication of rejection of mercy petition to the convict and his family members and actual execution of the death sentence.

It also said that,

•   Legal aid to be provided to the condemned prisoners inside the jail.
•  Solitary confinement of a death convict and other prisoners is unconstitutional.
• Condemned prisoners must be given a chance to meet their family members before execution of death sentence.
• Death sentence of a condemned prisoner cannot be executed if he is suffering from mental illness and schizophrenia.
• Unexplained delay is a ground for commuting death penalty to life sentence.

(Source: The Hindu)