Two sisters from Kolhapur whose mercy petitions against capital punishment were rejected bythe President recently, today moved the Bombay high court praying their death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment.

The sisters--Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit--have, in their petition, contended that the President had taken more than five years to decide their mercy petitions when such a plea should have been disposed of within three months.

On this ground alone, their death sentence may be commuted to life term, the duo prayed. The petition, filed through their lawyer Sudeep Jaiswal, came up before Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode who posted it for hearing tomorrow.

The judges also asked the petitioner's lawyer to show judgements which empower the high court to entertain a petition when the Supreme Court has confirmed death penalty and the President has rejected the mercy petition.