Inordinate delay

Sir — While the Supreme Court’s commutation of the death sentence to the assassins of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to life imprisonment, by citing the inordinate delay in disposing their mercy petitions, is a slap on the face of the executive, what about the delay in the delivery of justice by the courtsIJ 

History is replete with instances where cases do not get closed within the shortest possible time. Though the recent verdict has been hailed by political parties, and many leaders have sought the release of the killers, demanding that the powers vested by the state be used, had the authorities taken the case to its logical conclusion promptly, the killers would have faced the gallows long ago, and no tears would have been shed.