The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday demanded that the Centre make "fresh efforts" for securing the early release of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner on death row in Pakistan. The demand comes in the wake of Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju writing to the prime minister for the release of Pakistani prisoner Dr Khaleel Chishty, who has been languishing in Indian jails for the past 20 years. The SC judge had sought the release of Chishty, a micro-biologist.
A five-judge Bench of Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, RF Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan heard the petition filed by Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh. The duo had moved a curative petition in the top court after a Delhi court issued death warrants in their names for their hanging on January 22.
With President Pratibha Patil rejecting the mercy petition of two convicts on death row, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday raised the pitch for the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and said the government was not bound to go by sequence while dealing with pending pleas.
Hasan Ali Khan, the Pune-based stud farm owner arrested on money laundering charges, is the second-most secure inmate of the Arthur Road jail after Ajmal Kasab, lodged like the Pakistani gunman on death row in the high-security 'Anda cell'.
Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit Singh who is on death row in a Pakistan prison, made a vain bid to meet Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday during his stay at a hotel in Mohali
The Delhi government has decided to refer to the Union home ministry a decision on the execution of death row convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar following a medical board report that he is under severe mental depression.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 20-year-old daughter of Nalini and Murugan, who were convicted in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, wants to come to India and campaign for clemency for her father who is on death row.
Pakistani authorities enhanced security for Asia Bibi, the Christian woman who triggered a blasphemy furore in the country and in whose defence Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer lost his life, following reports of a threat to her life. The government of Punjab government beefed up security for 45-year-old Asia Bibi in Sheikhupura jail, where she is currently on death row, officials said.
A 41-year-old man in the United States has been executed for killing a convenience store clerk from India during a shooting spree in 2001. Mark Stroman, a Texas death row inmate, shot at least three men he mistook for 'Arabs' in the weeks after the 9/11 attacks, killing two of them. He was convicted of killing Vasudev Patel, 49, during the attempted robbery of a convenience store near Dallas in October 2001.
Besides Mittal, seven others were awarded life sentences in the case by a lower court.
Convinced that death row convict Sarabjeet Singh is "innocent" and deserved to be released, former Pakistani Minister and noted human rights activist Ansar Burney on Friday demanded that India also consider release of all Pakistanis who had completed their jail terms as a reciprocative gesture.
Indian national Sarabjit Singh, on death row in Pakistan, had an emotional reunion with his sister Dalbir Kaur after three years in a prison on Thursday.
However, hours after the high court order was pronounced, Akshay's mercy plea was rejected by the President on Wednesday evening. The mercy pleas of Mukesh and Vinay have already been rejected. Pawan is yet to seek that relief.
Sarabjit Singh's family appeals for his release.
Briefing media perons about the number of mercy petitions currently with his ministry, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said there are total 31 cases, out of which 19 have been resubmitted with decision on 11 cases in the last 30 months.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought to know the Centre's stand on a plea for direction to it to take steps for release and repatriation of Indian death row convict Sarabjit Singh languishing in a Pakistani jail for the last 21 years for his alleged role in a terror act there.
Bangladesh on Thursday hanged the five ex-Army officers, convicted for assassinating the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, almost three decades after he was killed in a military coup.
Her protests come right after the trial court offered Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the case, saying a condemned convict is entitled to legal aide till his last breath.
The top court rejected the contention of Sharma that he is mentally ill and said his medical report suggests he is stable.
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on Friday the Centre's appeal challenging the Delhi high court's verdict dismissing its plea against stay on the execution of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.
With BJP president Nitin Gadkari refusing to take back his Afzal Guru 'son-in-law of Congress' remark, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said some decency was expected in comments by political leaders.
Parliament attack death row convict Afzal Guru has approached the Delhi government seeking his transfer from the Tihar jail in New Delhi to a prison in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir.
With questions being raised over the delay in clearing the mercy petition file of death row convict Afzal Guru, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday said it took longer time to take a decision on the issue because of its sensitive nature.
Vardhan emphasised on how the Indian traditional system of medicine has also contributed substantially in boosting the immunity of general population during COVID-19.
A team of prison officials performed the dummy execution on Sunday. The officials recorded the weights of the convicts and the prepared the dummies accordingly with sacks filled with debris and stones, a senior jail official said. The execution will take place on in Jail No 3, he said, adding that the UP Prison authority has confirmed that Pawan Jallad from Meerut will be sent to hang the four convicts.
Over 100,000 Indians, including former test cricketers and chief justices, have signed a mercy petition addressed to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari seeking clemency for Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row in a Pakistani prison.
Giving a ray of hope to the family of Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row in Pakistan, his lawyer on Monday said there is fresh evidence to prove his innocence in 1990 Lahore and Multan blasts case and he has filed a fresh mercy petition.
Mehta told Justice Suresh Kait that convict Pawan Gupta's move of not filing a curative or a mercy petition is a deliberate, calculated inaction.
Family members of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national on death row in a Pakistani prison, on Saturday met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray. Sarabjit's sister Dalbir Kaur, her husband Baldev Singh and Sarabjit's daughter Swapandeep Kaur met Raj at his residence in central Mumbai.Describing their plight to Raj, Dalbir alleged that the government was not making the required efforts to seek Sarabjit's release.
Contests in 13 seats would attract most attention during the Chhattisgarh assembly elections as they feature prominent leaders of the Congress and BJP.
Eyebrows were raised when the four men, including main accused Vishal Rana, were seated at Yogi's rally, cheering for the UP CM at a rally held in Greater Noida's Bisada village.
The family of Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row and lodged in a Pakistani jail since 1991, will move the International Court of Justice for his release.
After Kashmir Singh, leading Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney has found another Indian on death row, Karpal Singh, languishing in a jail in Punjab province since 1992.
The Congress on Friday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari over his comments about Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, saying he had 'lost it'. "This is a very disgraceful statement. The country will decide whether such language will be used in polity. Coming from the president of a national party, it is unfortunate and nobody had thought about such degradation of public life," said Manish Tiwari.
Thennarasu said that while the governor had to grant his approval to the bill, he informed them it was still under his consideration.
Dawn News channel quoted unnamed sources as saying that the Interior Ministry had recommended that Sarabjit's death sentence should not be commuted to life imprisonment as such a pardon would 'encourage subversive activities by Indian terrorists'. Sarabjit is accused of triggering bomb blasts in Lahore in 1990 and has been languishing in Pakistan prisons for nearly two decades.
Earlier, Sarabjit's lawyer, Awais Sheikh, had stated in the court that he was not allowed to meet his client despite court orders. He had also filed a petition against the interior secretary of Punjab and superintendent of Kot Lakhpat jail.
The NCERT has dropped references to the demand for a separate Sikh nation of Khalistan from the class 12 political science textbook following objections from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), according to top education ministry officials.
He also said a total of Rs 38.75 crore, deposited by people in the Karavannur Cooperative bank in this district, which is now facing charges, had already been returned.
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