In Brief
Pawan Kumar Gupta challenged the President's rejection of his mercy petition, claiming juvenility, torture in prison, and lack of common intention with co-accused. The Supreme Court held that judicial review of mercy petition rejection is strictly limited to grounds of non-application of mind, mala fides, extraneous considerations, or arbitrariness. The Court found that juvenility was already finally determined and rejected in earlier proceedings; prison conditions and torture are not valid grounds for mercy petition review; and absence of common intention had been considered by trial and appellate courts. Following settled law, the Court presumed the President acted carefully and dismissed the petition.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.