27-MAR-2014
NEW DELHI : The government told the Supreme Court on Thursday that it had no
problem with the commutation of death penalty of convict, Devinder Pal Singh
Bhullar, in the 1993 bomb blast in New Delhi, which killed 12 people and
injured 29 others, to life term.
Bhullar, a Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) militant, was sentenced to death in
2001 for causing a car bomb.
The government said that a delay in the deciding mercy plea was ground enough
for commutation of Bhullar's death sentence.
Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati said to a bench headed by the Chief Justice of
India, 'this is a case which has to be allowed because the mercy petition of
the convict was decided after a delay of eight years', to which the bench
agreed.
The court will announce its decision in the case on Monday or Tuesday.
"The bench greatly appreciated the candid statement of the attorney general,
and therefore there was no further need for argument and the matter has been
reserved for judgment on Monday or Tuesday," said K.T.S Tulsi, lawyer in the
case.
The bench had earlier inquired about Bhullar's health conditions and had
examined a medical report of the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied
Sciences (IHBAS), where Bhullar is being treated for mental illness.
Earlier in January, the court stayed Bhullar's execution and had agreed to
review its earlier judgement in which it had rejected convict's plea to commute
his death sentence.
However, outraged at the centre's move, a bomb blast victim and former leader
of Congress M. S. Bitta felt if Bhullar's death sentence was commuted, his
entire family's life would be in danger.
"If now there is any bomb blast on me or my family or if somebody kills me then
Sonia Gandhi and Ahmad Patel will be responsible for it, who are wearing masks.
They are openly helping terrorists and want to free militants so that there are
attacks on us again. This is unfair," said Bitta, who is also the Chairman of
All-India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF).
Meanwhile, an advocate and a human rights activist, H.S. Phoolka, welcomed the
government's initiative in the wake of Bhullar's mental health.
"The first judgment of Supreme Court clearly states that if somebody's mental
state is not okay then he cannot get death sentence. This was to be done by the
central government, and it is a good thing that agreeing with the Supreme
Court, central government applied this in Supreme Court and has said that his
execution should be stayed," said Phoolka.
On January 21, the Supreme Court of India commuted the sentences of 15 death
convicts to life imprisonment, due to delays in their execution.
The death penalty of 13 condemned prisoners has been commuted to life because
of delay on part of President to decide their mercy pleas.
The other two were given life sentence after it was revealed that the
imprisonment, while awaiting their sentence, had turned them mentally ill.
http://www.aninews.in/newsdetail2/story161365/government-agrees-to-commutation-of-death-sentence-to-devinder-bhullar.html
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