In Brief
In this criminal appeal, the Supreme Court considered whether inordinate delay by the President in deciding a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution violated the respondent's fundamental right to life. The respondent, convicted of murdering five family members (for which he was on bail for a prior rape conviction), was sentenced to death. Both mercy petitions were rejected after unexplained delay. The High Court had commuted his sentence, finding the procedural defect violated Article 21. The Supreme Court upheld this, but modified the order to direct release after 35 years (accounting for time served), noting the respondent's breach of bail conditions could not be ignored in sentence quantification.
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