SC dismisses Nirbhaya convict’s plea
Bench says quick decision by the President does not mean there was non-application of mind
30/01/2020, KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL,NEW DELHI
Nirbhaya case convict Mukesh’s challenge against the President’s rejection of his mercy petition was on Wednesday dismissed by a three-judge Bench led by Justice R. Banumathi.
The court said a quick decision by the President did not mean there was non-application of mind.
“The quick consideration of the mercy petition and swift rejection of the same cannot be a ground for judicial review of the order passed under Article 72/161 [on mercy petitions by President/Governor] of the Constitution. Nor does it suggest that there was pre-determined mind and non-application of mind,” Justice Banumathi, who wrote the judgment, held.
The Bench, including Justices Ashok Bhushan and A.S. Bopanna, said the suffering experienced by death row convicts could not be a ground for commutation of the death penalty.
Mukesh had alleged solitary confinement and abuse at the hands of the jailors and fellow prisoners during his incarceration.
But the court said, “The alleged sufferings in the prison cannot be a ground for judicial review of the executive order passed under Article 72 of the Constitution rejecting the petitioner’s mercy petition.”
The court, after perusing the files containing the correspondence and official notings in original handed over to it by the Union Home Ministry, concluded that all the relevant documents and records were considered before arriving at the decision to dismiss the mercy plea. It was not necessary that each and every material relied upon by the petitioner-accused should have been placed before the President, it said.
Bench says quick decision by the President does not mean there was non-application of mind
30/01/2020, KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL,NEW DELHI
Nirbhaya case convict Mukesh’s challenge against the President’s rejection of his mercy petition was on Wednesday dismissed by a three-judge Bench led by Justice R. Banumathi.
The court said a quick decision by the President did not mean there was non-application of mind.
“The quick consideration of the mercy petition and swift rejection of the same cannot be a ground for judicial review of the order passed under Article 72/161 [on mercy petitions by President/Governor] of the Constitution. Nor does it suggest that there was pre-determined mind and non-application of mind,” Justice Banumathi, who wrote the judgment, held.
The Bench, including Justices Ashok Bhushan and A.S. Bopanna, said the suffering experienced by death row convicts could not be a ground for commutation of the death penalty.
Mukesh had alleged solitary confinement and abuse at the hands of the jailors and fellow prisoners during his incarceration.
But the court said, “The alleged sufferings in the prison cannot be a ground for judicial review of the executive order passed under Article 72 of the Constitution rejecting the petitioner’s mercy petition.”
The court, after perusing the files containing the correspondence and official notings in original handed over to it by the Union Home Ministry, concluded that all the relevant documents and records were considered before arriving at the decision to dismiss the mercy plea. It was not necessary that each and every material relied upon by the petitioner-accused should have been placed before the President, it said.
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