SC asks govt why Bhullar's medical report was not given to Prez

The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned as to why the medical report of death convict Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, allegedly suffering from psychiatric illness, was not submitted to the President by the Centre at the time forwarding his mercy plea.

A bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice SJ Mukhopadhyay posed the query to the government after scanning various documents, sent by the Union home ministry to the President along with Bhullar's mercy plea.

The bench also objected to the foreign governments' steps of writing to the Indian government, appealing to it not to hang Bhullar who was awarded death penalty for triggering a bomb blast here in September 1993 on Raisina Road outside the Youth Congress office killing nine people.

"Does it not amount to interference in our system? It is a serious matter. Are they trying to influence us?," the bench observed while asking the Centre to place before it the original communication of European Union and the German government on the issue.

"If such a request is made by other countries, does it not amount to direct interference in our judicial and quasi judicial functioning of the country? Why does the government give credence to such communications?," the bench asked.

Bhullar was deported from Germany in 1995, after his application for political asylum was rejected there. The European Union has appealed to India not to execute Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist Bhullar, whose mercy petition was rejected by the President last year.

The court was hearing a petition by Bhullar, who has pleading that his capital punishment be commuted to the life imprisonment as there has been an "inordinate" delay in deciding his mercy plea and he is not mentally sound.

He had submitted that prolonged incarceration awaiting his execution amounted to cruelty and violated his Fundamental Right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court had on March 26, 2002, dismissed Bhullar's appeal against the death sentence, awarded by the trial court and endorsed by the Delhi High Court.

He had then filed a review petition which was also dismissed on December 17, 2002. Bhullar had then moved a curative petition which too had been rejected by the apex court on March 12, 2003, He, meanwhile, had filed a mercy petition before the President on January 14, 2003.

The President, after a lapse of over eight years, dismissed his mercy plea on May 25 last year.

Bhullar is currently undergoing treatment at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) at Shahdara for hypertension, psychiatric illness and suicidal tendencies.

Earlier, in an affidavit in the Supreme Court, the Centre had justified the delay of over eight years in deciding Bhullar's mercy plea and said "processing a mercy petition is purely a Constitutional process which takes time".

The Centre had told the court that no time limit can be fixed for disposal of mercy pleas of convicts on death row and the court cannot prescribe a time limit for it.

It had submitted that powers conferred on the President to decide a mercy plea are special powers which cannot be interfered with.

"The powers under Article 72 of the Constitution are special powers overriding all other laws, rules and regulation in force. No time frame can be set up for the President in this regard," the affidavit had said.

"The powers of the President are discretionary which cannot be taken away by any statutory provision and cannot be altered, modified or interfered with in any manner whatsoever by any statutory provision or authority," it had said adding "the court, therefore, cannot prescribe a time limit for disposal of mercy petitions".