Wikileaks exposure on mercy petitions in India

Latest Wikileaks exposures on deliberate delay in decision to hang Afzal Guru look fit in the way Union Home Ministry is acting now a days. It seems that Indian government has virtually taken an indirect decision to suspend death-sentence by going too slow in taking decision on pending 29 petitions.

Recent en-block turning of eight death-sentences into life-imprisonment by President of India was done in an unprecedented manner when Union Home Ministry recalled all these files for ?review?. Earlier two successive Union home Ministers had recommended rejection of all these mercy-petitions after even their decision to reject mercy-petitions got endorsed by Attorney General. After Supreme Court?s verdict, mercy-petitions must be only rarely accepted. Union government should take immediate steps to decide all pendingmercy-petitions within a time-bound period of say three months.

Delay in deciding mercy-petitions creates unnecessary emotions and provocation, apart from diluting fear against committing the crime. Rule should be to finally decide on mercy-petitions within three months of filing with hanging done within one week of rejection of mercy-petition. Also terrorists can repeat incidents like infamous hijack of IC-814 at Kandhar to get death-convicts like Afzal Guru and Kasab freed before being hanged in case of delayed decisions on mercy-petitions.