“Human beings must not be used as pawns to further some larger political goal”. This is the stern message that the Supreme Court has given to the government about the mercy petitions of those given the death sentence that it continues to sit on. As many as 26 mercy petitions are pending with it.
The apex court has also said that those condemned and their relatives have a right to insist that a decision should be taken within a reasonable time, failing which the sentence should be changed to life imprisonment; failure to take a timely decision amounts to a violation of the condemned prisoners' right to live with dignity.
Will the government act at last, or will it conveniently use this observation to delay decisions and then commute the death sentences of the likes of Afzal Guru?
Uncertainty
2 months ago
