Are we carving out separate jurisdiction for death row prisoners, SC asks

Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN Aug 9, 2013, 02.56AM IST

NEW DELHI: In a midnight order, the Supreme Court stopped Jabalpur jail authorities hours before they were to take Maganlal to the gallows on Thursday to execute the capital punishment given to him for hacking to death his five daughters, the eldest of whom was just six years, in Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district.

NGO 'People's Union for Democratic Rights' through senior advocate Colin Gonsalves swung into action late on Wednesday evening after the TOI website reported Maganlal's imminent execution in Jabalpur central jail and moved Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, who held court at his residence close to midnight and ordered the authorities to put the scheduled execution on hold till Thursday.
On Thursday, sitting with Justice Ranjana Desai, Justice Sathasivam extended the stay on Maganlal's execution till further orders after Gonsalves doubted whether authorities had intimated the convict's family about the President's July 22 decision to reject his mercy plea.

Though the apex court has always acted in favour of right to life, a recent spate of petitions filed at the eleventh hour seeking stay of execution after rejection of mercy petitions by the President forced the bench of Justices Sathasivam and Desai to wonder aloud, "Are we creating a separate post-mercy rejection jurisdiction?"

There was a reason for the CJI to express his nuanced thoughts, because death warrants are issued against a condemned prisoner only after he goes through all tiers of judicial remedy - appeal in the high court, then in Supreme Court and following it up with review and curative petitions - to challenge the death sentence imposed on him by the trial court which awards capital sentence after finding the heinous crime fitting into the SC-devised 'rarest of rare' category.

In a similar late evening sitting on April 6 at the residence of Justice Sathasivam, he along with Justice MY Eqbal had stayed the execution of eight persons whose mercy pleas had been rejected. There too, PUDR was the public interest petitioner for the death row prisoners.

During the April 6 hearing, the bench of Justices Sathasivam and Eqbal had said it was entertaining the petition to ascertain whether proper communication had been sent to the relatives of these condemned prisoners whose mercy pleas had been rejected.

"It should not happen as it happened in the Jammu and Kashmir case (Afzal Guru's hanging). The intimation of the execution reached the relatives of the person (Afzal) after his hanging. That is bad. The relatives lost an opportunity to meet the condemned prisoner for one last time before his execution," the bench had said.

Gonsalves picked up the thread from the April 6 hearing and on Thursday argued before the bench of Justices Sathasivam and Desai that "no communication appears to have been sent to the family of Maganlal after the rejection of his mercy plea". The court allowed PUDR's lawyers - Rishabha Sancheti, Yug Mohit Chaudhry and Puja Sharma - to meet the family of the condemned prisoner and ascertain facts.

A trial court had on February 3, 2011, found Maganlal guilty of beheading his daughters Jamuna (1), Phool Kanwar (2), Aarti (4), Savita (5) and Leela (6) with an axe following a dispute over property with his two wives on June 11, 2010. The high court upheld the trial court decision seven months later and the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal on January 9 last year. 

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-08-09/india/41236594_1_mercy-petitions-mercy-plea-execution [accessed 12th August 2013]

Supreme Court stays execution of Maganlal

J. Venkatesan

Published: August 8, 2013 04:05 IST | Updated: August 8, 2013 15:59 IST 

 

The Supreme Court on Thursdayextended until further orders its stay of the execution of Maganlal Barela , who was sentenced to death for beheading his five daughters after an argument with his two wives. 

On Wednesday night the Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam passed an interim order of stay of executionat his residence around 11.30 pm after senior counsel Colin Gonsalves approached him with a plea to suspend the execution scheduled for Thursday morning. 

Today during the resumedhearing before a bench of CJI and Justice Ms Ranjana Desai, counsel Colin Gonsalves submitted that the President didn't communicate the rejection of the mercy petition to the convict and he did not know when the mercy petition was rejected. He said there was no transparent and fair procedure in disposal of mercy petition. 

The CJI said, " slowly we are creating one more jurisdiction after the Supreme Court dismisses the criminal appeal and the President rejects the mercy petition."However the bench directed the present petition filed by People's Union for Democratic Rights on behalf of the convict to be listed along with a batch of other petitions to be heard by a constitution bench which will determine questions relating to delay in disposal of mercy petitions by the President and connected issues.

Last month, the Sehore District and Sessions Court issued a black warrant for Mr. Barela’s execution after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his clemency petition last month. His plea to commute his sentence to life imprisonment had been rejected by the High Court and the Supreme Court. Barela killed his five daughters, aged 1 to 6, with an axe in the village of Kaneria on June 11, 2010. He tried to hang himself after the crime, but was unsuccessful. 

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/supreme-court-stays-execution-of-maganlal/article5001475.ece?homepage=true&ref=relatedNews [accessed 12th August 2013]

 

Death for Kerala child rapist-killer

Thursday, 01 August 2013 | PNS | Malappuram

A court in Kerala’s Malappuram district on Wednesday sentenced a middle-aged man for raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl. 
Pronouncing the death sentence on rapist-killer Abdul Nasser of Palambarambath, Nellikkuthu in the district, the Malappuram District and Sessions Court in Manjeri observed that the accused did not deserve even a speck of mercy. It had pronounced Nasser guilty of the crime the other day.The court said that the sentence should serve as a warning to many in the context of the increasing incidents of atrocities against children. Nasser had raped and killed nine-year-old Salva, daughter of Suhra of Elluparambu on April 4, 2012.
According to the prosecution, Nasser had raped Salva when she had come to his house at 6.30 am on the day of the crime to call his daughter Majida, her classmate, to go to the local Madrassa.Nasser, who was alone in the house as his wife and daughter had gone to a nearby house where a death had occurred, called her inside the house and raped her.
After raping the child, Nasser strangulated her using a shawl when she said she would inform her parents of the incident. He then hid the child’s body first in the kitchen and then in the bath room, the prosecution said. Nasser said that he had nothing to say when the court asked him for his response to the sentence. Salva’s mother Suhra said she had expected the court’s decision.
The prosecution had charged Sections 376 (rape), 301 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code against Nasser. The court found Nasser guilty of the first two charges but observed that the prosecution had not been able to prove the charge of destruction of evidence.
The prosecution had produced in the court evidences like bloodstains of Salva found from Nasser’s house, the shawl with which he had strangulated the girl, etc. As many as 46 witnesses were examined in the case.

Source : http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/death-for-kerala-child-rapist-killer.html

Perarivalan plea on researcher’s visit to prison declined

CHENNAI, August 1, 2013

S. VIJAY KUMAR

The death-row convict claims that information is crucial to defend his case

The plea of A.G. Perarivalan alias Arivu, death row convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking details of a research scholar’s visit to Vellore Central Prison in 2011 has been declined by the State government. Though the convict claimed that the information was crucial to defend his case, the Prison Department turned down his plea filed under the Right to Information Act stating that the details sought were not available in jail records.

In repeated petitions sent to the prison authorities in the last two years, Perarivalan referred to the visit of Reena Mary George to the prison on April 13, 2011, in connection with her work on death row convicts.

Seeking copies of the permission letters given to the researcher, he wanted to know on record whether Ms. George met the three condemned prisoners–Murugan alias Sriharan, Suthenthiraraja alias Santhan and him (the petitioner).

Confirming that Ms. George had visited the prison and spent about four hours, the Public Information Officer replied that there was no record of her interview details in the prison.

In his appeal, copies of which were made available to The Hindu, Perarivalan argued that it was a well known procedure that a written permission was given to those intending to visit prison for research activities and accused the PIO of giving false and misleading information.

After the second appeal was also turned down by the Additional Director-General of Prisons, who said prisoners could not be given access to prison records as per Rule 473 of the Tamil Nadu Prison Rules, 1983, Perarivalan sent an appeal to the State Information Commission praying that his petitions be heard expeditiously and he be granted personal appearance to present his case.

However, the State government wrote to Perarivalan in the last week of June this year stating that it was not feasible to comply with his request. “He also sought details of mercy petitions processed by the Cabinet and referred to the Governor. The information cannot be shared with the petitioner under the provisions of the RTI Act,” an official in the Home Department said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/perarivalan-plea-on-researchers-visit-to-prison-declined/article4974703.ece?homepage=true [accessed on 1st August 2013]

Batla House convict gets life term

New Delhi, July 30, 2013 Mohammad Ali

Shahzad Ahmad fined Rs. 95,000, and Rs. 40,000 from the sum will be given to the family of the inspector killed in the encounter

Shahzad Ahmad, convicted for his role in the 2008 Batla House encounter, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court here on Wednesday.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs. 95,000 on him, and Rs. 40,000 from it will be given to the family of Special Cell Inspector M.C. Sharma, who was killed in the encounter. S. Qamar, one of the lawyers of Shahzad, said he would appeal against the verdict in higher courts.

On Thursday, the Court of Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar Shastri convicted Shahzad, 25, for firing at police officers, causing the death of Sharma.

The Delhi Police had sought the death penalty for Shahzad, arguing that his crime constituted the rarest of rare cases and there was “no scope for [his] rehabilitation and reform.” The court, however, rejected the prosecution’s plea. “Ruminating on the facts of the case and the circumstances of the convict, I find mitigating circumstances more than aggravating ones, and hence the case … is not a ‘rarest of the rare case,’ which warrants the death penalty upon the convict,” the judge said.

One of the aggravating circumstances which the court cited includes attempts by Shahzad to obstruct police officers from doing their job by attacking them and killing Sharma in the process. Rejecting the police argument that Shahzad had a history of “heinous crime,” the judge expressed the hope that there “are chances of his being reformed and return to the mainstream of society.”

“Admittedly, this convict has not been found guilty till now, of any offence he has been charged with. An accused is presumed innocent till he is proven guilty is an oft-cited tenet of law. God willing, the convict would have learnt values of civilised society,” the judge added.

One of the several mitigating circumstances was that “the convict is a young boy, aged 24-25 years, stated to be a student.” Another factor was that the incident at Flat No. 108, L-18, Batla House, was “not premeditated and occurred in the spur of the moment.”

The encounter took place on September 19, 2008 between officers of the Special Cell of the Delhi Police and suspected terrorists, resulting in the death of Sharma and two alleged terrorists. Shahzad was said to have fired at the police party while fleeing. 

Source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Shahzad-Ahmed-gets-life-term-in-Batla-House-encounter-case/Article1-1100637.aspx

Larger bench of SC to hear pleas of death row convicts

Press Trust of India | Posted on Jul 26, 2013 at 06:26pm IST

New Delhi: A larger bench of the Supreme Court will hear from October 22 a batch of petitions seeking commutation of their death sentence into life imprisonment on account of delay in carrying out the execution following the dismissal of their mercy petitions by the President.
"Death sentence matters will be taken up immediately after the Dussehra holidays from October 22," a bench, comprising Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said.
Before taking over as the CJI, Justice Sathasivam had said that there was a need for "authoritative pronouncements" by a larger bench or a Constitution Bench on issues like mercy pleas to avoid conflicting views by smaller benches.

The hearing by a larger bench assumes significance as on April 12, a two-judge bench had held that long delay in disposing off mercy pleas by the President or the Governor of persons convicted under anti-terror laws or similar statutes cannot be a ground for commutation of death sentence. The ruling was pronounced while rejecting the plea of Khalistani terrorist and death row convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar.
When the April 12 judgement was delivered, there were over 20 convicts facing execution. Later on, an apex court bench had granted relief to a condemned prisoner M N Das who had sought conversion of his death sentence to life imprisonment on the ground of delay in deciding his mercy plea.
On February 18 this year, a bench headed by Justice Sathasivam, which in an urgent hearing had stayed the execution of death sentence of sandalwood smuggler Veerapan's associates in a Karnataka jail, had said it would wait for the Bhullar's case judgement before dealing with other identical petitions.
It had stayed the execution of death sentence of Veerappan's elder brother Gnanaprakash and his aides Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran.
The outcome of the hearing before a larger bench will also have its bearing on three persons Murgan, Santhan and Perarivalan who are awaiting execution after conviction under TADA in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. A bench headed by Justice Sathasivam had on April 6 stayed the execution of eight more death row prisoners, convicted in different murder cases, whose clemency pleas were rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.
The eight convicts facing death row in different cases are Suresh, Ramji, Gurmeet Singh, Praveen Kumar, Sonia and her
husband Sanjeev, Sundar Singh and Jafar Ali. The apex court had passed the orders on the plea of either the convicts or civil rights group and public spirited persons who had filed the petitions on behalf of the death row persons.
In its petition, Peoples Union of Democratic Rights (PUDR) had challenged the rejection of the mercy pleas of the eight convicts contending there has been delay in carrying out their execution even after it was confirmed by the apex court.
While Suresh, Ramji, Gurmeet Singh and Jafar Ali are lodged in prisons in Uttar Pradesh, former Haryana MLA Ralu
Ram Punia's daughter Sonia and her husband Sanjeev are jailed in Haryana. Praveen is in a Karnataka jail and Sundar Singh is
an inmate in a prison in Uttaranchal. Sonia and Sanjeev were awarded death penalty for killing eight members of her family, including her parents and three children of her brother, in 2001.
Gurmeet Singh was convicted for killing 13 of his family members in 1986. Jafar Ali murdered his wife and five daughters. Suresh and Ramji killed five of their relatives. 

Source : http://ibnlive.in.com/news/larger-bench-of-sc-to-hear-pleas-of-death-row-convicts/409628-3.html
 

Wife's murder: High Court commutes death penalty to life term

By Express News Service - KOCHI

24th July 2013 12:56 PM

The High Court on Tuesday set aside the death penalty awarded to Saji alias Unni of Perumbavoor, for the murder of his wife in 2010, and commuted it to life imprisonment. A division bench comprising Justice S Siri Jagan and Justice K Ramakrishnan passed an order while quashing the order of Ernakulam District and Sessions Court. The Bench awarded life term and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the accused. The prosecution case was that  the petitioner had also attempted to murder his mother-in-law. The court held that “life imprisonment is a rule and death penalty is an exception”.
It also said that murder was a grave offence. But, merely because it was committed, death penalty cannot be awarded. The case will not come under the rarest of the rare category so capital punishment is not needed, said the Bench. The court directed that Rs 20,000 from the fine amount should be given to the mother of the victim and Rs 80,000 to the child.

Source : http://newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/Wifes-murder-High-Court-commutes-death-penalty-to-life-term/2013/07/24/article1699038.ece