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Supreme Court Issues Guidelines On Death Penalty

Execution & Mercy Petitions To Avoid Delay In Process
Amisha Shrivastava
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9 Dec 2024 9:16 PM

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The Supreme Court issued comprehensive guidelines for timely

execution of death sentence.

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The Supreme Court on Monday (December 9) directed all states and union
territories to constitute a dedicated cell for the prompt processing of the mercy
petitions by death row convicts within the timeline laid down by the respective
governments.

“A dedicated cell shall be constituted by the Home Department or the Prison

Department of the State Governments/Union Territories for dealing with mercy
petitions. The dedicated cell shall be responsible for the prompt processing of
the mercy petitions within the time frame laid down by the respective
governments”, the Court held.

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Controversial Speech, Seeks Details From Allahabad HC (/top-stories/supreme-court-takes-
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hc-277880)

(https://www.slsnagpur.edu.in/?utm_source=livelaw&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=eng)

A bench of Justice Abhay Oka, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and Justice

Augustine George Masih also held that Sessions Court on receiving order
confirming death penalty must immediately issue notice to the public prosecutor
seeking information on pending appeals, review/curative petition or mercy plea
and periodically monitor pending proceedings to ensure timely issuance of
execution warrants once all legal avenues are exhausted.

Also Read - Hindu Succession Act | Supreme Court Refers To Larger Bench Conflicting
Opinions On Female Hindu's Rights Under S.14 (/supreme-court/hindu-succession-act-
supreme-court-refers-to-larger-bench-conflicting-opinions-on-female-hindus-rights-under-

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s14-277865)

“If information is received regarding the pendency of review/curative petitions

or mercy petitions, the Sessions Court shall keep on listing the disposed of
case after intervals of one month so that it gets the information about the status
of the pending petitions. This will enable the Sessions Court to issue a warrant
for the execution of the death sentence as soon as all the proceedings
culminate”, the Court emphasised.

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IPS Officer Gurjinder Pal Singh's Compulsory Retirement (/top-stories/supreme-court-
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compulsory-retirement-277862)

The Court laid down detailed procedural guidelines to be followed by the executive
as well as the judiciary for handling mercy petitions and execution of death
sentences to prevent delays in the process.

The Court dismissed appeals by the State of Maharashtra challenging the 2019
Bombay High Court judgment (https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/2007-pune-
gangrape-and-murder-146783) that commuted the death sentences of two
convicts, Purshottam Borate and Pradeep Kokade, to life imprisonment with a fixed
term of 35 years. The case involves the 2007 gang rape and murder of a 22-year-
old Pune BPO employee.

The Supreme Court reserved (https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-to-

lay-down-procedure-to-avoid-delays-in-execution-of-death-penalty-after-mercy-

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petition-is-rejected-268859) the judgment after raising several questions about the

procedural lapses and delays in this case.

Directions to State Governments and Union Territories

1. Dedicated Cells for Mercy Petitions

◦ State Governments and Union Territories must establish dedicated cells
within their Home or Prison Departments to handle mercy petitions.
These cells should promptly process mercy petitions within the
prescribed timeframe.

◦ An officer-in-charge of the dedicated cell shall be nominated by

designation, and the contact details will be shared with all prisons.

2. Attachment of Judiciar y Officials

◦ An official from the Law and Judiciary or Justice Department will be
attached to the dedicated cell.

3. Information Sharing and Documentation

◦ Prison authorities must immediately forward mercy petitions to the
dedicated cell and call for information from police stations and
investigation agencies, including details about the convict's antecedents,
family, economic condition, incarceration period, and relevant legal
documents.

◦ Jail authorities must promptly forward various documents, including

police reports, FIRs, arrest and chargesheet details, committal orders,
trial evidence, convict conduct reports, and judgments from the Sessions
Court, High Court, and Supreme Court, along with English translations
where required, to the officer-in-charge of the dedicated cell and the
Secretary of the Home Department.

4. Coordination with Governor and President's Secretariats

◦ Mercy petitions must be forwarded to the Secretariats of the Governor or
President immediately for further action.

5. Electronic Communication
◦ As far as possible, all communication should be conducted via email to

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ensure efficiency, barring cases where confidentiality is required.

6. Guidelines and Repor ting

◦ State Governments are required to issue executive orders detailing
procedures for handling mercy petitions. They must report compliance to
the Supreme Court within three months.

Guidelines for Sessions Cour ts

The Court outlined specific responsibilities for Sessions Courts once a death
sentence is confirmed by the High Court:

• Maintain a record of cases involving death sentences and ensure timely

listing on the cause list after receiving High Court or Supreme Court orders.

• Issue notices to State Public Prosecutors or investigation agencies to

ascertain the status of appeals, reviews, or mercy petitions.

“As soon as the order of the High Court confirming or imposing the death sentence
is received by the Sessions Court, a note thereof must be taken, and the disposed
of case shall be listed on the cause list. The proceedings can be numbered as
Misc. Application depending upon the applicable Rules of the procedure. The
Sessions Court shall immediately issue notice to the State Public Prosecutor or the
investigating agency calling upon them to state whether any appeal or special
leave petition has been preferred before this Court and what is the outcome of the
said petition/appeal; b. If the State Public Prosecutor or the investigating agency
reports that the appeal is pending, as soon as the order of this Court confirming or
restoring the death sentence is received by the Sessions Court, again, the disposed
of case or miscellaneous applications should be listed on the cause list and notice
be issued to the State Public Prosecutor or the investigating agency to ascertain
whether any review/curative petitions or mercy petitions are pending.”

• Ensure that a clear 15-day gap exists between the issuance of an execution
warrant and its implementation. Convicts must be informed of their right to
legal representation, and legal aid should be provided upon request. "Copies

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of the order issuing the warrant and the warrant shall be immediately
provided to the convicts, and the Prison authorities must explain the
implications thereof to the convicts. If the convict so desires, legal aid be
immediately provided to the convicts by the Prison authorities for challenging
the warrant."

The State government must immediately apply for an Execution Warrant once the
death penalty becomes final and enforceable.

Implementation

The Supreme Court directed its Registry to forward copies of the judgment to the
Home Departments of all States and Union Territories, which must report
compliance within three months. The judgment will also be sent to Registrar
Generals of all High Courts for dissemination to Sessions Courts. The Court kept
the matter of reviewing compliance on March 17, 2025.

Case no. – Crl.A. No. 2831-2832/2023

Case Title – State of Maharashtra and Ors. v. Pradeep Yashwant Kokade and
Anr. with connected case

C i t a t i o n : 2 0 2 4 L i v e L a w ( S C) 9 6 3

Click Here To Read/Download Judgment (https://www.livelaw.in/

pdf_upload/870520205150157850judgement09-dec-2024-575502.pdf)

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Tags Supreme Court (https://www.livelaw.in/tags/supreme-court)

Justice Abhay Oka (https://www.livelaw.in/tags/justice-abhay-oka)

Justice Ahsanuddin Amaah (https://www.livelaw.in/tags/justice-ahsanuddin-amaah)

Justice Augustine George Masih (https://www.livelaw.in/tags/justice-augustine-george-

masih)

Death sentence (https://www.livelaw.in/tags/death-sentence)

Article 21 (https://www.livelaw.in/tags/article-21)

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