DELAY IN EXECUTION OR CLEMENCY? – A CASE COMMENTARY ON RENUKA @ RINKU @ RATAN KIRAN SHINDE AND ANR. v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.

Author – Ravani Ukti Nayudu, Student of Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute, Chennai

Best Citation – Ravani Ukti Nayudu, DELAY IN EXECUTION OR CLEMENCY? – A CASE COMMENTARY ON RENUKA @ RINKU @ RATAN KIRAN SHINDE AND ANR. v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS, SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT REPORTER, 1 (1) of 2023, Pg. 01-07, ISBN – 978-81-960677-8-6.

Abstract

What is the purpose of awarding a death sentence? What is the point of a death sentence if it is to be carried out 20 to 25 years later? the Supreme Court recently questioned the State of Maharashtra in response to the latter’s appeal of the Bombay High Court’s decision to commute the death sentences of two sisters to life imprisonment citing prolonged delay in processing their mercy petitions.

The mercy petition is a last resort provided by the Indian Constitution when a convict is sentenced to death by a court of law. Only when a conviction falls into the category of the rarest of the rare cases will the offender actually serve their sentence.

In India, a mercy petition is not a one-step or one-person remedy; such petitions are processed through a series of procedures involving a hierarchy of departments, culminating in a request for approval from the President or Governor, who is authorised to grant such relief under the Indian Constitution.

Due to the structural rigidity and time-consuming nature of the procedures, there is an inordinate delay in processing mercy petitions, resulting in a delay in determining the eventual outcome of the convict.

This paper evaluates the who and the why for the delay by answering the question, “Delay in execution or clemency?” via a presentation of a case commentary on the commuted death sentences of the serial killer sisters Renuka Kiran Shinde and Seema Mohan Gavit.

Key Words – Death Sentence, Mercy Petition, Commutation to life imprisonment, Delay in procedures, Infringement of Fundamental Rights