A vacation bench refused to hear the petition filed on Monday, saying there was no urgency and the matter will be taken up in due course.
NEW DELHI: In view of prolonged delay in decisions on 22 mercy petitions, including that of Parliament attack convict Md. Afzal Guru, a public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking time-bound disposal of such pleas pending before the President of India.
A vacation bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and P P Naolekar refused to hear the petition filed on Monday, saying there was no urgency and the matter will be taken up in due course.
Petitioner C P Bhartiya, the editor of a Delhi-based Hindi weekly 'Rashtriya Aakrosh', has sought a direction to the Union government to fix a date to dispose of mercy petitions of prisoners, who have been awarded capital punishment, pending before the President on the ground that it violated their fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
He also urged the court to issue suitable guidelines to dispose of the mercy petitions filed by 22 condemned prisoners who have been languishing in jails in different parts of the country.
According to the petitioner, a five-bench of the apex court in the matter of Triveniben Vs State of Gujarat had unanimously held that undue delay in execution of death sentence was not only inhuman suffering and dehumanising treatment but was also unjust, unfair and unreasonable deprivation of life and liberty and, therefore, infringes the mandate of the Article 21 of the Constitution.
The inordinate delay in deciding the fate of mercy petitions, including that filed by Parliament attack prime accused Jaish-e-Mohammad militant Mohd. Afzal, varies from one year to nine years, the petition filed through Manjeet Chawla stated.
"Speedy trial is part of one's fundamental right to life and liberty. This principle is no less important for disposal of mercy petition. It has been universally recognised that a condemned prisoner has to suffer a degree of mental torture," the PIL stated.
It further said that the fate of these prisoners should be decided fast in view of the President vacating his office in July.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}