The Supreme Court on Saturday stayed the execution of eight death row convicts after their mercy petitions were rejected by the President recently.
In a late evening hearing at the residence of Justice P Sathasivam, a bench comprising Justices Sathasivam and MY Eqbal stayed the hanging on an urgent mentioning by NGO Peoples Union for Democratic Rights.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves who appeared for the NGO sought urgent stay of the execution following rejection of the mercy pleas of the eight convicts. The eight convicts on death row who have been granted relief are Praveen Kumar (Karnataka), Gurmeet Singh (U.P.), Sonia and Sanjeev (Haryana), Sunder Singh (Uttarkhand), Jafar Ali (U.P.), Suresh and Ramji (U.P.).
President Pranab Mukherjee had rejected the mercy petitions of nine convicts noting the gravity of the offence committed by the accused. While Gurmeet Singh had hacked to death 13 of a family, Sonia and Sanjeev were deprived of any mercy for killing eight persons. Jafar Ali was accused of killing his wife and five daughters while Suresh and Ramji had murdered four relatives. The ninth convict Dharampal, accused of rape and murder of a young girl in Haryana got reprieve from the Punjab and Haryana High Court which stayed his execution earlier in the day.
The bench, while staying the execution observed that the accused should not meet the same fate as that of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal, who was deprived of the presence of his near and dear ones, who were intimated after his execution. The bench noted, “It should not occur like in the case of Afzal where the relatives lost a chance to meet the condemned prisoner.” The bench posted the matter for hearing after four weeks giving opportunity for the state to respond.