Aug 30, 2011, 12.14PM IST
CHENNAI: The Madras high court has granted an eight-week stay on the execution of three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case.
A specially-constituted bench of Justices C Nagappan and M Sathyanarayanan passed orders on petitions filed by V Sriharan alias Murugan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan and A G Perarivalan alias Arivu on Tuesday.
As the hearing was due to begin at 10.30am, the court hall and the passage outside was packed with advocates who were supporters of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and by young lawyers waiting to catch a glimpse of eminent jurist Ram Jethmalani.
Starting his arguments on the dot, Jethmalani, who represented Murugan, began by summarising the facts of the case. After the bomb blast in 1991, the judicial process of the case was over by May, 1999 with the Supreme Court confirming the death sentence pronounced by the lower court. A mercy plea presented to the Governor of Tamil Nadu was disposed of within 10 days in October, 1999. Submitted for a second time, the mercy pleas were rejected by the Governor on April 25, 2000. A day later, they sent a mercy petition to the President on April 26, 2000. The petitions were rejected by the President after a gap of 11 years and four months.
Quoting various Supreme Court and high court judgments that the delay was a ground for commutation of sentence, he said, "Unless the delay is properly explained or justified, it makes the death penalty immoral, illegal and, according to me, unconstitutional."
Addressing the judges, he said, "You must start with the assumption that more than two years' delay is, prima facie, wrong." An undue delay violated Article 21 of the Constitution (protection of life and personal liberty), he added.
Senior counsel Vaigai and reputed human rights lawyer Colin Gonsalves appeared for Santhan and Perarivalan respectively. "We argued that the delay is unconscionable. By no yardstick can a government sit on a mercy petition for so many years. Every minute is a minute of suffering for a convict on death row. We can't fault the petitioner for it. The delay is on part of the President's office," she said.
Even as the arguments continued inside, news trickled into the crowd waiting outside the court hall that the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution that the death sentence should be commuted. This indicated a turn-around from chief minister J Jayalalithaa's earlier stand on Monday, quoting a directive from the Ministry of Home
Affairs, that the state government did not have the power to intervene once the President had rejected the clemency plea.
A representation was sent by People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) through its national secretary V Suresh to the CM. It stated that the power to grant commutation was provided under Section 257(1) of the Constitution. This could not be curtailed, controlled or abridged by a circular, the representation said.
Even as lawyers were discussing this development on Tuesday, a loud cheer erupted from those standing at the doors of the court hall when the order of stay was passed. A few advocates began whistling inside despite the judges still on their seats. Slogans of 'Mudhal Ammaichar Vaazhga' (long live the chief minister) and 'Ram Jethmalani Vaazhga' (long live Ram Jethmalani) soon rent the air. Lawyers were seen hugging each other in congratulation.
Soon, a group pushed its way through the crowd paving a path for Ram Jethmalani to exit through the crowd. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko, who emerged next, appeared to be swept along by the crowd. Naam Tamizhar leader and film director Seeman followed. The atmosphere on the premises was one of celebration with a string of crackers burst outside the campus.
Film director Manivannan, artist Trotsky Marudu and parents and sister of Perarivalan, one of the convicts, were among those who attended the hearing.
CHENNAI: The Madras high court has granted an eight-week stay on the execution of three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case.
A specially-constituted bench of Justices C Nagappan and M Sathyanarayanan passed orders on petitions filed by V Sriharan alias Murugan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan and A G Perarivalan alias Arivu on Tuesday.
As the hearing was due to begin at 10.30am, the court hall and the passage outside was packed with advocates who were supporters of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and by young lawyers waiting to catch a glimpse of eminent jurist Ram Jethmalani.
Starting his arguments on the dot, Jethmalani, who represented Murugan, began by summarising the facts of the case. After the bomb blast in 1991, the judicial process of the case was over by May, 1999 with the Supreme Court confirming the death sentence pronounced by the lower court. A mercy plea presented to the Governor of Tamil Nadu was disposed of within 10 days in October, 1999. Submitted for a second time, the mercy pleas were rejected by the Governor on April 25, 2000. A day later, they sent a mercy petition to the President on April 26, 2000. The petitions were rejected by the President after a gap of 11 years and four months.
Quoting various Supreme Court and high court judgments that the delay was a ground for commutation of sentence, he said, "Unless the delay is properly explained or justified, it makes the death penalty immoral, illegal and, according to me, unconstitutional."
Addressing the judges, he said, "You must start with the assumption that more than two years' delay is, prima facie, wrong." An undue delay violated Article 21 of the Constitution (protection of life and personal liberty), he added.
Senior counsel Vaigai and reputed human rights lawyer Colin Gonsalves appeared for Santhan and Perarivalan respectively. "We argued that the delay is unconscionable. By no yardstick can a government sit on a mercy petition for so many years. Every minute is a minute of suffering for a convict on death row. We can't fault the petitioner for it. The delay is on part of the President's office," she said.
Even as the arguments continued inside, news trickled into the crowd waiting outside the court hall that the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution that the death sentence should be commuted. This indicated a turn-around from chief minister J Jayalalithaa's earlier stand on Monday, quoting a directive from the Ministry of Home
Affairs, that the state government did not have the power to intervene once the President had rejected the clemency plea.
A representation was sent by People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) through its national secretary V Suresh to the CM. It stated that the power to grant commutation was provided under Section 257(1) of the Constitution. This could not be curtailed, controlled or abridged by a circular, the representation said.
Even as lawyers were discussing this development on Tuesday, a loud cheer erupted from those standing at the doors of the court hall when the order of stay was passed. A few advocates began whistling inside despite the judges still on their seats. Slogans of 'Mudhal Ammaichar Vaazhga' (long live the chief minister) and 'Ram Jethmalani Vaazhga' (long live Ram Jethmalani) soon rent the air. Lawyers were seen hugging each other in congratulation.
Soon, a group pushed its way through the crowd paving a path for Ram Jethmalani to exit through the crowd. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko, who emerged next, appeared to be swept along by the crowd. Naam Tamizhar leader and film director Seeman followed. The atmosphere on the premises was one of celebration with a string of crackers burst outside the campus.
Film director Manivannan, artist Trotsky Marudu and parents and sister of Perarivalan, one of the convicts, were among those who attended the hearing.
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