Bhullar to hang, SC refuses to commute death plea
April 12, 2013  11:29
The Supreme Court has rejected the petition of condemned prisoner Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, who had sought commutation of his death penalty to life sentence on the ground that he underwent great agony for 11 years awaiting the President''s decision on his mercy plea. The Supreme Court has said there is no merit in commuting the death plea and that the death plea cannot be commuted.

A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya had heard elaborate arguments on three petitions - one by Bhullar, second by his wife Navneet Kaur and third by NGO ''Justice on Trial Trust''.


The bench had reserved its verdict on April 19 last year. Bhullar was sentenced to death in 2001 for plotting terror attacks on Punjab SSP Sumedh Singh Saini and the then Youth Congress President M.S. Bitta in 1993, leading to several deaths in New Delhi.

The apex court had on 26 March, 2002, dismissed Bhullar's appeal against the death sentence awarded by trial court and endorsed by the Delhi High Court.


He had filed a review petition, which was also dismissed on 17 December, 2002. Bhullar had then moved a curative petition, which too had been rejected, by the apex court on March 12, 2003.


Bhullar had filed a mercy petition before the President on 14 January, 2003. The President, however, rejected his mercy petition on May 25 last year, clearing the decks for his execution.
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