BeyondHeadlines

Tag: mercy plea

  • Congress Wants ‘Time Limit’ on Deciding Mercy Plea

    BeyondHeadlines Staff Reporter

    New Delhi: Should Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s case be fast tracked? The Congress admits there should a be a time-frame.

    “So long as the constitutional rules do not provide for a specific time limit, this is bound to happen. You will have different persons taking different time periods because no time limit is provided,” said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

    Afzal Guru’s mercy petition is pending with President Pratibha Patil, a day after the Home ministry recommended that the Parliament attack convict’s mercy plea be rejected.

    Technically the President could send the recommedation back for a review once but will have to agree with the Centre’s view if the recommendation is sent the second time.

    Afzal Guru was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in 2004. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on October 20, 2006.

    But his execution has been stayed pending a decision on his mercy plea. Should the case be fast tracked – Soli Sorabjee says political fallout should not effect mercy petitions.

    “To my mind the political fallout should not be a relevant consideration,” he said.

     

  • KPS Gill Debunks Politics over Bhullar Death Row; Says No Mercy for Terrorists like Bhullar

    BeyondHeadlines  News Desk

    New Delhi: Coming out heavily on politics being played out on the mercy plea of Khalistani activist Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar ahead of elections in Punjab, former Punjab DGP KPS Gill has said that there should be no clemency for Bhullar and that politics is being played over it as elections are due in Punjab.

    Gill also debunked the Akali Dal’s claim that saving Bhullar from the death row would remove acrimony from the minds of the Sikhs. “No mercy should be shown to terrorists like Bhullar, and very firm action is necessary to stamp out terrorism,” Gill said. In a rare show of solidarity both the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab and the opposition Congress wants Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to step in to save Bhullar from the death row. Bhullar was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2001, for plotting terror attacks on SSP Sumedh Singh Saini in 1991 and for attacking Congress leader MS Bitta in 1993, leading to several deaths.