Supreme Court Of India Judgement: Davinder pal singh v. State of NCT, Delhi

Davinder pal singh v. State of NCT, Delhi

BY: ASHOK KUMAR LAKKARAJU

Davinder pal singh v. State of NCT, Delhi

Citation: (2013) 6 SCC 195

Judges: B.N Agarwal, a. Pasayat

Facts:

Davinder pal Bhullar was arrested on 1995 for Bombay Bomb Blasts which had killed over 9 members and had injured over 25 others in 1993. He was arrested under TADA. In 2001 his punishment was made to Death penalty. The court has dismissed the review petition filed by  Davinder Bhullar. Davinder pal Bhullar had filed a mercy petition to the President of India in 2003.

Supreme Court had dismissed the Curative petition filed by Davinder pal. Also, the President had dismissed the mercy petition in 2011.

Mercy petition was dismissed over a period of 8 years. Wife of Davinder had filed a writ petition for quashing the communication of dismissal of Mercy petition. The judicial precedents have been established that, if there is an unreasonable delay for more than 8 years that death penalty shall be converted to Life Imprisonment.

Issue:

Whether the delay in delivering judgment should be taken as ground for commuting the death punishment to Life Imprisonment?

Whether the Illness should be considered as converting Death penalty to Life Imprisonment?

Issues Answered:

1. Yes, if there is delay in delivery of judgment of grevious nature, then the punishment should be commuted to life Imprisonment.
2. In the landmark judgment of “Shatrugan”, it was clearly established that, mental imprisonment should be taken as a ground for commuting the punishment to Life Imprisonment.

Judgment:

On 31^st march, the court on the basis of Medical report given by Director and other 4 member of the Medical Board had converted his death penalty to life imprisonment. Reason behind this judgment was that, the medical board has proved to the court that, he was suffering from acute mental illness. In the landmark judgment, the court has considered illness as one of the circumstances for converting the judgment to Life Imprisonment.

Sections referred:

Article 137 of Indian Constitution.

Other cases referred:

Shatrugan’s case

Lily Thomas v. Union of India.

1. Nagraj v. State of Karnataka

Ashok Kumar Lakkaraju is an avid and sincere learner, researcher & writer and is currently pursuing B.A.LL.B at Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University.