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Early disposal of mercy pleas sought

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: A public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed in the Supreme Court has challenged the “inordinate” delay in disposal of 22 mercy petitions of prisoners awarded capital punishment, including that of Parliament attack case convict Mohd. Afzal Guru.

A vacation Bench, comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and P. P. Naolekar, refusing to hear the petition immediately, said it would be taken up in due course.

Petitioner C. P. Bhartiya, Editor of Hindi weekly Rashtriya Aakrosh, sought a direction to the Union Government to fix a time frame for disposal of the mercy petitions sent to the President, saying the delay violated their fundament al rights guaranteed under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

He urged the court to issue suitable guidelines to dispose of the mercy petitions filed by 22 condemned prisoners all over the country.

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