New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Thursday take up the plea of three death convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case seeking commutation of their death sentence to life imprisonment citing delay of over 11 years in deciding their mercy petitions by the President.
A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam turned down the plea of the Centre which pleaded for posting the case for another day after senior advocate Ram Jethmalani appearing for the condemned prisoners Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan said he suspected that the government is trying to delay the case.
"I have a strong suspicion that they want to take time in the case so that they can file review petition (on apex court verdict holding that delay in deciding mercy plea can be a ground for commuting death sentence)," Jethmalani said.
Additional Solicitor General Siddharth Luthra also said that the Centre is considering for seeking review of the recent apex court verdict in which it held that inordinate and inexplicable delay by government in deciding mercy plea of
death row convicts can be a ground for commuting their sentence.
The bench thereafter decided to take up the case on Thursday when it would hear the plea of petitioners and Attorney General GE Vahanvati will make submission on behalf of Centre on February 4.
The apex court on May, 2012 had decided to adjudicate itself the pleas of Rajiv Gandhi killers against their death penalty and had directed that their petitions, pending with the Madras High Court, be sent to it. The court had passed the order on a petition by one LK Venkat seeking transfer of their pleas out of Tamil Nadu on the ground that free and fair hearing would not possible in
the state due to the surcharged atmosphere, favouring the death row convicts.
On a petition by the three death row convicts, the Madras High Court had earlier stayed their hanging and issued notices to the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government. Their main contention was that the delay in disposal of the mercy petitions by 11 years and four months made the execution of the death sentence "unduly harsh and excessive," amounting to violation of their right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
On the trio's plea, the high court had stayed their execution slated for September 9, 2011.
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