Guru’s Mercy Petition Yet Not Ready to Be Considered by President

A senior official has said that the mercy petition of 2001 parliament attack death row convict Mohammed Afzal Guru has yet not reached Rashtrapati Bhawan for being considered by President Pratibha Patil, said media reports.

“Afzal Guru’s mercy petition is not pending with the President’s office. As per official records, it is currently pending with the government of New Delhi,”’ the official was quoted as saying.

Currently, the President’s office has 27 mercy petitions from 49 death-row inmates across the country and of them, only 25 are awaiting the President’s decision.

Home Ministry is still considering two petitions – Guru’s and one from Bandu Tidake in Karnataka – and seeking details and opinions from the respective state governments.

A trail court had awarded death sentence to Guru on December 18, 2002, which was later upheld by the high court on October 29, 2003 and finally by he supreme court on August 4, 2005.

On January 4, 2006, the mercy petition, filed on behalf of Guru’s family, was sent to the President. As per procedure, the Union home ministry then began examining the petition along with the government of Delhi. It has sent the petition to Delhi for details of the case.

Explaining the procedure for taking a decision on a mercy plea, the official said that the President doesn’t take a decision solely on the ground of a petition filed by a convict but after it is received by Rashtrapati Bhavan, it is forwarded to the MHA for an opinion, said reports.

He further said that the ministry then seeks the view of the concerned state government and then forwards the same to Rashtrapati Bhavan along with its own observations, reports said.

“There is a procedure for disposing of mercy petitions. If there is no response from the MHA on a specific case, the Rashtrapati Bhavan cannot pass an order,” he was quoted as saying.

The officer also said that with 25 mercy petitions being pending, there is no question of any petition jumping the queue and cases being taken up on priority, said reports.

“That’s not the practice. The President considers each every case separately and then gives her verdict, but no time-frame can be fixed for disposal of a mercy petition pending before the Rashtrapati. Even under the Constitution of India, there is no prescribed time limit. As such, no one can compel the President of India to decide on a mercy petition,” he was quoted as saying.

(Based on internet reports)