Don't delay decisions on mercy pleas, it benefits convicts: SC
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The Supreme Court on Friday directed state governments and other concerned authorities not to delay decisions on mercy petitions by death row convicts, who could gain an advantage from the hold-up. The court said, "If even after the final conclusion...there is an inordinate delay in not deciding the mercy petition, the object and purpose of the death sentence would be frustrated," reported The Tribune.
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Order was based on Renuka Shinde case
Reportedly, the order was based on a plea by the State of Maharashtra challenging a Bombay High Court decision to commute the death sentence of serial killer Renuka Shinde to life imprisonment after her mercy plea was kept pending for over seven years. The court said the decisions should be made faster so "the accused can know his fate and even justice is done."