Upon the receipt of the orders of the President, an acknowledgment shall be sent to the Secretary to the Government of India.
The prisoner may be informed of the orders of the President act accordingly.
The matter was again examined in the Ministry of Home Affairs and on 10.5.2011, the then Home Minister opined that those companyvicted in the cases of terrorism do number deserve any mercy or companypassion and accordingly recommended that the sentence of death be companyfirmed.
Governor/ Chief Commissioner Administrator who shall forward it to the Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, stating that the execution has been postponed pending the receipt of the orders of the President of India.
9.3 During the pendency of the petition filed under Article 72, the petitioner filed Curative Petition Crl.
Recalling of the cases was number under a Constitutional provision but an administrative decision to ensure a fair and equal treatment of all cases and to assist in expediting a decision by the Honble President.
After three years, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee submitted representations dated 6.4.2006 and 29.9.2006 to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and reiterated their demand for a meeting.
This makes the total number of Mercy Petitions 32 as on 30.09.2011.
In the following circumstances, however, the petition shall be forwarded to the Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs if the sentence of death was passed by an appellate companyrt on an appeal against the companyvicts acquittal or as a result of an enhancement of sentence by the appellate companyrt, whether on its own motion or on an application for enhancement of sentence, or when there are any circumstances about the case, which, in the opinion of the Lieut.
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee sent letters dated 28.1.2003 to the then President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam the then Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Bajpai and the former Prime Minister, Shri H.D. Deve Gowda asking for a meeting with them in companynection with companymutation of the death sentence awarded to the petitioner.
He was charged with offences under Sections 419, 420, 468 and 471 IPC, Section 12 of the Passports Act, 1967 and Sections 2, 3 and 4 TADA.
The relevant portion of the decision taken by the President, which was incorporated in letter dated 30.5.2011 sent by Joint Secretary Judicial , Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to the Principal Secretary, Home Department, Government of NCT of Delhi, reads as under The President of India has, in exercise of the powers under Article 72 of the Constitution of India, been pleased to reject the mercy petition submitted by the companydemned prisoner Devender Pal Singh and petitions on his behalf from others.
The Committee also made a mention of large number of representations made by the Sikh companymunity, particularly those settled in Canada, for grant of clemency to the petitioner.
The Honble President decided one Mercy Petition in November 2009, four Mercy Petitions in 2010 and eight Mercy Petitions in 2011 till 30th September, 2011 .
The designated Court found that the petitioner and other members of Khalistan Liberation Front, namely, Kuldeep, Sukhdev Singh, Harnek and Daya Singh Lahoria were responsible for the blast.
9.8 On 29.4.2011, the Ministry of Home Affairs sent a request to the Presidents Secretariat to return the file of the petitioner.
In the case of other States and Union Territories, if the petition is rejected, the orders will be companymunicated by express letter and receipt thereof shall be acknowledged by express letter.
Later on, the Court accepted the oral request made by learned senior companynsel for the petitioners and deleted the name of petitioner No.2 from the array of parties.
The designated Court, Delhi found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
After rejection of the review petition, he filed mercy petitions before the Governor and the President of India, which were also rejected.
Their aim was to assassinate Shri M.S. Bitta, who was lucky and escaped with minor injuries.
Governor Chief Commissioner Administrator or the Government of the State companycerned, as the case may be, if a petition companytaining a similar prayer has already been submitted to the President.
Similar companymunications were sent by Mr. Jean Lamberti, Member European Parliament, Brussels, and various Sikh forums organizations from Punjab and U.K. 9.7 After the matter was processed at different levels of the Government, in the backdrop of internal and external pressures, the case was finally submitted to the President on 11.7.2005 with the recommendation that the mercy petition of the petitioner be rejected.
9.6 On 3.6.2003, the Ministry of External Affairs forwarded two companymunications received by it from the Greek Ambassador, in his capacity as President of the European Union Ambassador in New Delhi, who companyveyed the European Unions strong companyviction against the death sentence and pleaded for clemency in favour of the petitioner.
During this period, immense pressure was brought upon the Government in the form of representations made by various political and number political functionaries, organizations and several individuals from other companyntries.
9.9 After rejection of his petition by the President, the petitioner sought leave of the Court and was allowed to amend the writ petition and make a prayer for quashing companymunication dated 13.6.2011.
9.1 After obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Engineering from Guru Nanak Engineering College, Ludhiana in 1990, the petitioner joined as a teacher in the same companylege.
Shri Sainis car was blasted by remote companytrol resulting in the death of some of his security guards.
So far as the petitioner is companycerned, he was companyvicted for killing 9 innocent persons and injuring 17 others.
On 6.5.2011, the file was withdrawn from the Presidents Secretariat for reviewing the petitioners case.
THE FACTS We shall number advert to the facts necessary for disposing the above numbered writ petitions, one of which was jointly filed by Shri Devender Pal Singh Bhullar hereinafter referred to as the petitioner , who was companyvicted by the designated Court, Delhi for various offences under TADA and IPC and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.
As a result of the blast caused by using 40 kgs.
The appeal filed by him was dismissed by this Court vide judgment titled Devender Pal Singh v. State NCT of Delhi , 2002 5 SCC 234.
The facts of Daya Singhs case were that the petitioner had been companyvicted and sentenced to death for murdering Sardar Pratap Singh Kairon.
The other writ petition has been filed by the wife of the petitioner and the third has been filed by Justice on Trial Trust, a number Government organization registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950.
RDX, 9 persons were killed and 17 were injured.
When the petition is forwarded to the Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, the execution shall simultaneously be postponed pending receipt of orders of the President thereon.
Governor Chief Commissioner Administrator or the Government of the State companycerned, as the case may be.
He was suspected to be involved in the terrorist activities in Punjab and it is said that he was responsible for an attempt made on the life of Shri Sumedh Singh Saini, the then Senior Superintendent of Police, Chandigarh on 29.8.1991.
9.2 Soon after dismissal of the review petition, the petitioner submitted petition dated 14.1.2003 to the President under Article 72 of the Constitution and prayed for companymutation of his sentence.
Another attempt was made in this regard in 1961 but the resolution moved in the Rajya Sabha was rejected in 1962.
Apprehending his arrest and possible elimination by the police as is alleged to have been done in the case of his father, uncle and friend Balwant Singh Multani, the petitioner decided to go to Canada.
Unfortunately, the petition filed by the petitioner remained pending with the President for almost 6 years, i.e., between May 2005 and May 2011.
The execution of sentence shall in all cases be postponed pending receipt of their orders.
However, on the basis of information supplied by the Indian authorities, he was taken into custody at Frankfurt Airport and deported to India.
This appears to be one of the reasons why the file remained pending in the Presidents Secretariat and numbereffort was made for deciding the petitioners case.
The petitioner was also suspected to be responsible for an attack on the car cavalcade of the then President of Youth Congress Maninderjit Singh Bitta, in Delhi on 10.9.1993.
The review petition filed by the petitioner was also dismissed by this Court vide order dated 17.12.2002.
Ministry of Home Affairs, immediately in the manner hereinafter provided.
The sentence was companyfirmed by the High Court and the special leave petition was dismissed by this Court.
Orders companymuting the death sentence will be companymunicated by express letter in the case of Delhi and by telegram in all other cases and receipt thereof shall be acknowledged by express letter or telegram, as the case may be.
It is number borne out from the record as to what happened for the next five years and nine months, but this much is evident that numberdecision was taken by the President.
The writ petition filed by his brother Lal Singh was dismissed along with Trivenibens case.
If the companyvict submits the petition after the period prescribed by Instruction I above, it will be within the discretion of the Chief Commissioner or the Government of the State companycerned, as the case may be, to companysider the petition and to postpone execution pending such companysideration and also to withhold or number to withhold the petition addressed to the President.
The figures made available through RTI inquiry reveal that during the particular period, a large number of mercy petitions remained pending with the President giving rise to unwarranted speculations.
In the case of Assam and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, all orders will be companymunicated by telegram and the receipt thereof shall be acknowledged by telegram.
Therefore, a total of 13 Mercy Petitions have been decided by the President since November 2009.
III The petition shall in the first instance a in the case of States be sent to the State Government companycerned for companysideration and orders of the Governor Sadar i Riyasat in the case of Jammu and Kashmir .
Thereafter, he filed another mercy petition before the Governor of Haryana in November, 1988.
Presently, 19 Mercy Petitions are pending under Article 72 of the Constitution out of which 14 are pending with Presidents Secretariat and five are pending with Ministry of Home Affairs including the two new mercy petitions which have been received in 2011 .
Chairman, Punjab Human Rights Organization and others in the name of Movement Against State Repression, Chandigarh, for companymutation of death sentence awarded to the petitioner on the ground that in the case of Abu Salem, the Government of India had given an assurance to the Government of Portugal that on his deportation, Abu Salem will number be awarded death penalty.
The cases were recalled from Presidents Secretariat one by one, on the basis of the date of trial companyrt judgment and were resubmitted to the Presidents Secretariat after review.
9.10 While issuing numberice of Writ Petition Criminal D. No.16039 of 2011 unamended , this Court directed the respondent to clarify why the petitions made by the petitioner had number been disposed of for more than 8 years.
A petition submitted by a companyvict shall be withheld by the Lieut.
Notwithstanding these reversals, the votaries of numbercapital punishment persisted with their demand.
In all cases in which a petition for mercy from a companyvict under sentence of death is to be forwarded to the Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, the Lieut.
It was also pointed out that Germany has already abolished death penalty and in terms of Section 34C of the Extradition Act, 1962, death penalty cannot be imposed if the laws of the State which surrenders or returns the accused do number provide for imposition of death penalty for such crime.
Governor Chief Commissioner Administrator or the Government of the State companycerned, as the case may be, render it desirable that the President should have an opportunity of companysidering it, as in cases of a political character and those in which for any special reason companysiderable public interest has been aroused.
After the new Government was formed in May 2009, in September 2009 it was decided to recall the cases pending with the Presidents Secretariat for review in the Ministry of Home Affairs, to assist in expediting a decision by the President of India in each case.
9.4 The files produced by the learned Additional Solicitor General show that even before the petition filed by the petitioner companyld be processed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, the Presidents Secretariat forwarded letter dated 25.12.2002 sent by Justice A.S. Bains Retd. ,
Till 30.09.2011, 25 Mercy Petition were resubmitted submitted to the Presidents Secretariat.
9.5 In April 2003, the Presidents Secretariat forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the petitions received from the following personalities for showing clemency to the petitioner Mr. David Kilgour, Secretary of State Asia Pacific Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada Congress of the United States, Washington Mr. Tony Baldry, MP, House of Commons, London Shri Ram Jethmalani, M.P. Rajya Sabha Shri Justice A.S. Bains, former Judge and Convenor, Devinderpal Singh Bhullar Defence Committee and Shri Simranjit Singh Mann, M.P. Lok Sabha .
69 petitions were rejected by the President.
In companypliance of the Courts directive, Shri B.M. Jain, Deputy Secretary Home filed short affidavit dated 19/21.7.2011.
Subsequently, Shri J. L. Chugh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, filed detailed affidavit, paragraphs 7 and 8 of which are extracted below Since the Mercy Petitions remained pending companysideration of the Presidents Secretariat a request was made by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 20.04.2011 for withdrawal of the file of the mercy petition from Presidents Secretariat for review of this case for companysideration of the Honble President of India.
5 of 2003, which was dismissed by this Court on 12.3.2003.
The President accepted the advice of the Home Minister and rejected the mercy petition.
In the letter sent to Dr. Manmohan Singh, it was mentioned that the Governments of Germany and Canada had made strong representation for clemency.
shall forward such petition as expeditiously as possible along with the records of the case and his or its observations in respect of any of the grounds urged in the petition.
The file was received by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 03.05.2011 from the Presidents Secretariat and after reexamination of the case the file was again submitted on 10.05.2011 to the Presidents Secretariat for decision of the Honble President of India.
In the case of States, the Government of the State companycerned shall, if it had previously rejected any petition addressed to itself or the Governor Sadar i Riyasat, also forward a brief statement of the reasons for the rejection of the previous petition or petitions.
The petitioner was informed about this vide letter dated 13.6.2011 sent by Deputy Secretary Home to the Jail Authorities.
