NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the central government' s plea seeking victim- and society-centric guidelines for award of sentences, particularly death sentences, in place of the present system which is accused-centric and takes into consideration various mitigating factors relating to convicts .
The central government also sought a directive for the introduction of a timeframe for death row convicts to file a curative petition after the dismissal of a review petition, and the filing of a mercy petition within seven days of the issuance of the death warrant. It further sought that the death sentence be executed within seven days of rejection of the mercy petition.
Opposing the central government's plea, senior advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry and Puja Sharma said that courts had passed a series of judgments on the matter and it was wrong on the part of Centre to seek additional victim-centric guidelines .
The application, filed by the Union ministry of home affairs , highlighted that the directives of the court in the Shatrughan Chauhan case in 2014 were issued keeping in mind the rights of the convict and said it is high time the court redresses the grievances of victims, their families and the concerns of society at large, whose collective conscience gets shaken as a result of such horrific offences.
"It is submitted that while taking care of the rights of the convicts, it is more important and the need of the hour to lay down guidelines in the interest of the victims, their families and in larger public interest, lest the convicts found to be guilty of such horrible, dreadful, cruel, abominable, ghastly, gruesome and heinous offences are permitted to play with the majesty of law and prolong the execution of the sentence awarded to them in accordance with the law," the application stated.
Though no one appeared for the Centre to argue the case, the SC dismissed the plea, saying it was without merit.
In 2014, the Supreme Court had laid down guidelines for the protection of the rights of the death row convicts and declared that long pendency in the disposal of a mercy petition is a ground to commute the death penalty to life sentence.
It also said there should be a 14-day interval between intimating the rejection of the convict's mercy petition and their execution, so that the death row convict can not just seek a remedy but also mentally prepare themselves for the execution.
The central government also sought a directive for the introduction of a timeframe for death row convicts to file a curative petition after the dismissal of a review petition, and the filing of a mercy petition within seven days of the issuance of the death warrant. It further sought that the death sentence be executed within seven days of rejection of the mercy petition.
Opposing the central government's plea, senior advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry and Puja Sharma said that courts had passed a series of judgments on the matter and it was wrong on the part of Centre to seek additional victim-centric guidelines .
The application, filed by the Union ministry of home affairs , highlighted that the directives of the court in the Shatrughan Chauhan case in 2014 were issued keeping in mind the rights of the convict and said it is high time the court redresses the grievances of victims, their families and the concerns of society at large, whose collective conscience gets shaken as a result of such horrific offences.
"It is submitted that while taking care of the rights of the convicts, it is more important and the need of the hour to lay down guidelines in the interest of the victims, their families and in larger public interest, lest the convicts found to be guilty of such horrible, dreadful, cruel, abominable, ghastly, gruesome and heinous offences are permitted to play with the majesty of law and prolong the execution of the sentence awarded to them in accordance with the law," the application stated.
Though no one appeared for the Centre to argue the case, the SC dismissed the plea, saying it was without merit.
In 2014, the Supreme Court had laid down guidelines for the protection of the rights of the death row convicts and declared that long pendency in the disposal of a mercy petition is a ground to commute the death penalty to life sentence.
It also said there should be a 14-day interval between intimating the rejection of the convict's mercy petition and their execution, so that the death row convict can not just seek a remedy but also mentally prepare themselves for the execution.
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