The Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of a man convicted of sexually assaulting and strangling his six-year-old step-daughter to life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. The court affirmed his conviction but cited mitigating circumstances and the state's failure to exclude the possibility of his reformation, while also highlighting issues with the trial court's sentencing procedure.
Pakistan has said that Indian national Sarabjit Singh alias Manjeet Singh's mercy petition was not pending in President Asif Ali Zardari's office, as his execution had already been stayed by the 'previous government'.
The Centre on Saturday moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its verdict holding that undue delay by the government in deciding a mercy plea can be a ground to commute the death sentence of a condemned prisoner.
"Inordinate delay" in deciding Koli's mercy plea led to the HC verdict.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court acquitted one convict and commuted the death sentence of two others to life imprisonment in the 2014 Yug Gupta murder case.
The death sentence of four prisoners, including a man convictd for rape and murder of a five-year-old girl, has been commuted to life imprisonment by the President.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit, who were convicted by a Kolhapur court for kidnapping 14 children and killing five of them between 1990 and 1996.
The Delhi government has pleaded with the Supreme Court to commute death sentence of Khalistani terrorist Devinderpal Singh Bhullar to life imprisonment on the ground of his mental illness.
Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has demanded the resignations of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father, union minister Dr Farooq Abdullah.
The Supreme Court has expressed strong displeasure with the Odisha government for delaying a decision on the remission plea of Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two sons. The court has directed the state to make a decision by September 17, warning of summoning officials if the delay persists. Singh, incarcerated for over 26 years, seeks premature release based on his time served and a 2022 state policy.
The Apex court bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam, Justice RM Lodha, Justice HL Dattu and Justice SJ Mukhopadyaya, while commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment, referred to its January 21, 2014 verdict which said that inordinate, unexplained or unreasonable delay in deciding mercy petition was dehumanizing to death row convict and was a ground for commuting death sentence to life imprisonment.
Two former Chinese defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve over graft charges, official media reported.
In a major relief to three condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday commuted their death sentence to life imprisonment on the ground of 11 years delay in deciding their mercy plea by the Centre.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to murder convict M N Das, whose mercy petition was rejected by then President Pratibha Patil. A bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi allowed the plea of Das who had approached the apex court for commutation of his death sentence on the ground that the President had taken eleven years to decide his mercy plea.
In a huge relief, an appellate court in Qatar has commuted the death sentence of eight former Indian Navy personnel, arrested in an alleged case of espionage in August 2022.
The Odisha government has rejected the remission plea of Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons. The Supreme Court has granted Singh's counsel two weeks to challenge this decision. Singh, 63, has been in jail for over 25 years and sought premature release, claiming repentance for his actions.
A Bench comprising Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice A R Lakshmanan partially allowed the appeal of Rahul alias Raosaheb, who has been convicted of raping and murdering a four-year-old girl in 1999.
'Leave B Raman aside, 50 eminent personalities have written about commuting his death sentence. Even a retired judge of the Supreme Court has written about it. Nobody is talking about it.'
Slain sandalwood smuggler Veerappan's wife Muthulakshmi has appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to take steps for commuting the death sentence awarded to four of his associates in the 1993 Palar landmine explosion case.
President Pratibha Patil has commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence given to eight murder convicts in two separate cases.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted life to two death convicts in the 2002 American Center attack case in Kolkata with a rider that the mastermind will remain behind the bars till death and the other will spend at least 30 years in jail without remission.
Long delay in disposing off mercy pleas by President or governor of persons convicted under anti-terror laws or similar statutes cannot be a ground for commutation of death sentence, the Supreme Court held on Friday.
Under the Odisha state premature release policy, prisoners whose death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment become eligible for remission after completing 25 years in prison, subject to recommendations by the Odisha State Sentence Review Board and approval by the state government. Dara Singh has now spent more than 26 years in prison.
In a landmark judgment, Supreme Court on Tuesday commuted death penalty for 15 convicts on the grounds of delay and mental illness.
The Supreme Court has given the Odisha government one month to decide on the remission plea of Ravindra Pal, alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murders of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons.
The hearing in the open court assumes importance in view of the January 21 judgement of three-judge bench holding that inordinate and inexplicable delay by government in deciding mercy plea of death row convicts can be a ground for commuting their sentence.
The Calcutta High Court on Friday upheld death sentences for key accused Aftab Ansari and close aide Jamiluddin Nasir convicted of involvement in a 2002 attack on American Centre in Kolkata in which six policemen were killed.
'Dara's case can strengthen the perception among sections of the BJP's traditional support base.'
Delhi blast convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar's wife on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the execution of his death sentence, till her review plea against its verdict is decided. She submitted in her plea that she has filed a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict of April 12, in which the court had rejected her petition to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment.
The Delhi high court on Thursday commuted to life term the death penalty awarded to Ariz Khan following his conviction in the sensational 2008 Batla House encounter in which decorated Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma lost his life.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko on Saturday requested Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to take efforts for cancelling the death sentence awarded to three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
The moment it became clear that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would launch the trailer of the Hindi film Prahaar: The Untold Story of Ujjwal Nikam it became obvious that the spectacle was more political than cinematic.
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.
Paving the way for his execution, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the review plea of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, sole death row convict and a co-conspirator of fugitive Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
The Supreme Court overturned a Madras High Court order, reinstating the conviction of nine individuals involved in the 2013 murder of Chennai-based neurologist Dr Subbiah, linked to a long-standing land dispute.
A division bench comprising Justices Ashutosh Kumar and Jitendra Kumar disposed of the death reference moved by the state government on the order of a special National Investigation Agency court, and ruled that the four convicts shall serve "30 years in prison".
The Bombay high court on Thursday commuted to life imprisonment the death penalty awarded to three convicts in the 2013 gangrape case of a 22-year-old photojournalist inside the defunct Shakti Mills compound in central Mumbai, saying that they 'deserve imprisonment for life to repent the offence committed by them'.
Strongly opposing the petitions by three Rajiv Gandhi assassins challenging their death sentences, the Centre on Friday said the delay in the disposal of the clemency pleas was not a valid ground for commutation of capital punishment.
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol said the competent authority will decide the plea of the convict seeking mercy.
Nizami now faces execution unless his case is reviewed by the court or he is granted clemency by the President.
