Mercy Petition in India

Choose the Correct Answer

Correct Answer : Option a

Explanation
Context : Recently,the Supreme Court granted the Centre a final opportunity to decide on his mercy petition. The Court emphasized that any further delay would compel it to adjudicate the matter on its merits.
Shatrughan Chauhan v. Union of India (2014) case is a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court of India addressing the constitutional rights of death row convicts and the impact of delays in mercy petitions. The case involved 15 death row convicts (including Shatrughan Chauhan) who challenged the prolonged delays in the disposal of their mercy petitions, arguing that such delays subjected them to psychological torture and violated their right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Statement 1 is correct :The President has the discretion to accept or reject a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution. There is no obligation for the President to accept all mercy petitions, and the decision can be either to grant or deny clemency. Recently, the President of India has denied the mercy petition of a Pakistani national sentenced to death for the 2000 Red Fort terrorist attack.

Statement 2 is correct : There is no statutory written procedure for dealing with mercy petitions, but in practice, after extinguishing all the reliefs in the court of law, either the convict in person or his relative on his behalf may submit a written petition to the President. The petitions are received by the President’s secretariat on behalf of the President, which is then forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs for their comments and recommendations.

Statement 3 is not correct :The Supreme Court in cases such as Shatrughna Chauhan vs Union of India (2014) held that Right to seek for mercy under Article 72 or 161 of the Constitution is a constitutional right and not at the discretion or whims of the executive.