In a decision that could lead to a final view on the clemency petition of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Home Minister P Chidambaram has recommended to the President commutation of the death sentence of a prisoner in Tamil Nadu.
In the first case of presidential pardon by Pranab Mukherjee after assuming office, the death sentence of a convict has been commuted to life imprisonment. Atbir was sentenced to death by a sessions court in 2004 for the murder of his step mother, step sister and step brother over a property dispute in 1996. The decision was upheld by the high court and Supreme Court in August 2010.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to constitute a three-judge bench to consider the Delhi police's plea for a review of its verdict acquitting three death row convicts in the gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Delhi's Chhawla area in 2012.
The five Indian fishermen, who were sentenced to death on charges of drug trafficking, have been released by the Sri Lankan authorities.
It was taken up for hearing after Pathan moved an application last month for pressing the bail plea "in view of the threats" faced by him in prison.
The hearing in the appeals of the 17 Indians sentenced to death for killing a Pakistani man was adjourned for the third time by a Sharjah Court of Appeals on Wednesday. The court fixed September 1 for the next hearing. "The court did not accept an interpreter arranged by the Indian embassy as he had not been cleared by the United Arab Emirate's ministry of justice," said Bindu Suresh Chettur, the lawyer for the 17 Indians.
The Sharjah Court of Appeal, hearing a plea from 17 Indians sentenced to death for killing a Pakistani man, on Wedesday adjourned the case to June 16 after allowing them to have access to a Punjabi translator. "They were asked to either plead guilty or innocent but the convicts said they don't understand any language other than Punjabi. The court then agreed to allow us a Punjabi translator," said Bindu Suresh Chettur, the lawyer handling the case.
Sakshi TV, owned by YS Jaganmohan Reddy -- Congress member of Parliament from Kadapa -- is one of the three channels facing the criminal cases for telecast "unverified" reports on January 7, which provoked unprecedented violence across Andhra Pradesh in which mobs of Congress workers and YSR supporters targeted and destroyed the properties of Reliance Group.
The petition has been filed by convict Mukesh Kumar whose mercy plea was dismissed by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 17.
A Pakistani court has acquitted a Christian man who was sentenced to death for blasphemy five years ago, his lawyer has said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the review plea of death row convict Surinder Koli in one of the Nithari murder cases.
Jail officials said that after the death warrants were issued, the convicts were asked when they would like to meet their respective families for the last time, but none of them has responded yet. They are scheduled to be hanged on February 1.
Seventeen youngsters -- labourers, drivers and carpenters -- were sentenced to death on March 28 for the murder of a Pakistani in Sharjah last year. Rediff.com met some of their family members, who continue to pray fervently for the safe return of their sons.
Pakistani national Mohammad Hussain, who was awarded death sentence in a 1997 Delhi blast case in which four people had died, will have to face trial again with the Supreme Court on Friday directing re-trial after setting aside his conviction and capital punishment.
What comes as a relief to five families, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has agreed to pardon and release the five Tamil fishermen serving a death sentence for drug smuggling in the island nation.
A United Arab Emirates court hearing an appeal filed by 17 Indians sentenced to death for murdering a Pakistani man today adjourned the case until May 19 and asked the defendants and the victim's kin to reach a settlement by that date on the 'blood money'.
An Indian man, who was sentenced to death by the United Arab Emirates Supreme Court for murdering a girl, has been pardoned by the victim's parents.
Saudi Arabia said this month it had executed 81 men, including seven Yemenis and one Syrian.
Singh had moved the mercy plea after the Supreme Court dismissed his curative petition against his conviction and death sentence. The apex court had also rejected the curative petition of another death row convict Akshay Kumar, 31.
The apex court said there was no ground to interfere with the high court order that rejected Pawan's plea and his claim was rightly rejected by the trial court as also the high court.
Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday hailed the court's order, saying that 'India's daughter gets justice.'
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response from the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case on the Centre's appeal challenging the Delhi high court verdict which dismissed its plea against stay on their execution.
"The finality of death sentence is extremely important and a condemned prisoner should not be under the impression, that the death sentence remains open ended and can be questioned by them all the time," the SC said.
Three men who hijacked a Pakistan International Airline plane in 1998 and tried to fly it to India were among eight prisoners who were hanged on Thursday in different jails in Pakistan.
As the last-ditch attempt, Mukesh through his counsel on Tuesday sought an urgent hearing on his plea against dismissal of the mercy plea before the top court.
Following is the chronology of events in the sensational 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case in which four death row convicts were hanged Friday morning.
The Supreme Court on Friday acquitted all six convicts, including three condemned prisoners, in the 2002 Akshardham temple attack case and pulled up the Gujarat police for shoddy investigation in the case in which all the accused faced prosecution under the stringent anti-terror law, Prevention Of Terrorism Act
The court dismissed the last-ditch appeal by his mother, saying Dharmalingam has been given "due process in accordance with the law".
Advocate A P Singh moved an application alleging that the jail authorities are yet to release the documents which are required to file curative petitions for Akshay Kumar Singh, 31, and Pawan Singh, 25.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah held Singh's plea as not maintainable saying that the review petition and the curative petition have both been dismissed in the case.
On January 20, the apex court had rejected the plea by Pawan who had challenged the Delhi high court's order dismissing his juvenility claim.
The law allowed Jadhav to challenge his conviction in the high court through a review process which was a requirement of the ICJ verdict.
The Union home ministry on Friday forwarded to President Ram Nath Kovind the mercy petition of one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape case, recommending its rejection, officials said. Mukesh Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, had filed the mercy petition a few days ago.
India on Thursday asked Pakistan to address the 'shortcomings' in a bill brought out to facilitate reviewing the case of Indian death row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying the proposed law does not create a mechanism to reconsider it as mandated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The judge said that the Indian government or Jadhav may reconsider their decision pertaining to the review petition. "India and Kulbhushan Jadhav should once again be extended an offer to appoint a legal representative" for the death row prisoner, he added.
A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed an application filed by Vinay Sharma, one of the four death row convicts in Nirbhaya gang-rape case, seeking specialised medical treatment for claimed insanity. The court observed that general anxiety and depression are obvious for those on death row.
The Rajiv Gandhi assassination, investigation and trial were all jinxed in parts, recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
Death row convicts are asked about their last wish before hanging.
The IHC, after hearing the arguments, ordered the government to send its order on Jadhav to India and adjourned the hearing until October 3 when the case would be heard again. Pakistan has introduced a special law to allow Jadhav to get his sentence reviewed as asked by the ICJ.
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