Supreme Court slams Delhi government over delay in deciding remission plea of convicts
The Hindu
The Supreme Court has slammed the Delhi government over the delay in deciding remission plea filed by 114 convicts including a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist who was convicted for conspiring to wage war against the country and was awarded life imprisonment.
The Supreme Court has slammed the Delhi government over the delay in deciding remission plea filed by 114 convicts including a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist who was convicted for conspiring to wage war against the country and was awarded life imprisonment.
A Bench of justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan castigated States for mechanically rejecting remission plea of life convicts who have served more than 14 years in jail.
Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee told the court that a meeting of the Sentence Review Board was held on December 21 to consider premature release of 114 eligible convicts, including Gafoor.
He submitted that draft minutes of the meeting have been forwarded to the Home Department of the Delhi government for submission to the Lieutenant Governor.
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The Bench then said, "What you are doing is absolute breach of the top court's December 11 order. You have not clarified which remission policy you are following. What you did was very objectionable. When it comes to granting remission, all State governments are the same. There is a pattern. All State governments mechanically reject the first application for remission without considering it.".
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