M A I N   N E W S

Reject Kasab’s mercy plea: MHA
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 23
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended rejection of the mercy plea filed by Mumbai attacks death-row-convict Ajmal Kasab.

The ministry has forwarded its opinion to President Pranab Mukerjee for a final decision. If the President accepts the opinion, this will leave Kasab, the lone survivor among the 10 Mumbai attackers, with no escape route.

Article 72 of the Constitution doesn’t prescribe any time limit for the President to decide in such cases, but if he takes “too long” to decide, the Supreme Court can remind him about the delay.

The said constitutional provision gives the President the power to grant pardons, to suspend, remit or commute sentences, including death-row sentences such as the one Kasab faces. However, there is a restricting clause to these powers under Article 74 which says the President shall exercise his power in accordance with the advice given by the Union Council of Ministers. In case of death row, it is the advice of the Union Home Ministry. In case of Kasab, this could be his last chance to escape death.

Sensing the public sentiment, the MHA sent Kasab’s file to Rashtrapati Bhawan within three weeks of getting a note of rejection from Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayan. A top functionary said: “The MHA was not required to seek the opinion of the state government as the Governor had already rejected Kasab’s mercy petition.”

Kasab’s petition was addressed to the President in Urdu and was translated into Hindi. It first went to the state government, which sent it to the Governor, who subsequently rejected it.

The Supreme Court had on August 29 confirmed the death sentence to Kasab for waging war against India in which 166 persons were killed and more than 300 injured.

The BJP has welcomed the government decision. “It will send a strong message to Pakistan and those who sponsor terrorism,” BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said. 

NEMESIS DRAWS CLOSER

Article 72 of the Constitution gives the President the power to grant pardons, to suspend, remit or commute sentences, including death-row sentences

Article 74 says the President shall exercise this power in accordance with the advice given by the Union Council of Ministers

In case of death row, it is the advice of the Union Home Ministry that counts

With the ministry now recommending rejection of his mercy plea, Kasab might well have lost his last chance to escape the gallows

A dozen petitions

Twelve mercy petitions are pending with the President concerning 17 persons on death row. This includes petitions of Afzal Guru (convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack) and Balwant Singh Rajoana (convicted for the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995).

Dhananjoy Chatterjee was the last person to be hanged in 2004 in Kolkata for a rape and murder he committed in 1990.

Former President Pratibha Patil had kicked up a debate with a record 30 pardons in the last 28 months of her tenure. She had, however, held back her decision on petitions filed by Afzal Guru and Balwant Singh Rajoana.