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SGPC for commuting Bhullar's death sentence

“Does not fall within the definition of rarest of rare cases”

— Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

Appeal:Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Avtar Singh Makkar and Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Khalsa along with their supporters at the Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh on Monday after submitting a memorandum demanding commutation of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar's death sentence into life imprisonment.

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), apex religious body of Sikhs, on Monday urged President Pratibha Patil to commute the death sentence of militant Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar to life imprisonment “in view of the sentiments of the Sikh community”.

In a memorandum submitted to Punjab Governor Shivraj V. Patil by SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar here, the committee maintained that the Sikh community and all political parties in the State “are unanimous that the extreme punishment of death awarded to Bhullar be converted into life imprisonment in view of prolonged incarceration and suffering of accused of various psychiatric illness and suicidal tendencies”.

“This case does not fall within the definition of rarest of rare cases” and so it does not warrant a death penalty, it said.

Bhullar was deported from Germany, which has also strongly opposed the death penalty, Mr. Makkar said, adding that it was a “very emotive” issue in Punjab.

Bhullar was sentenced to death for carrying out a bomb blast in New Delhi outside the All-India Youth Congress headquarters in 1990s. The then Youth Congress chief Maninderjit Singh Bitta was injured and several people lost their lives in the incident.

Bhullar was sentenced to death on August 25, 2001, and the Supreme Court dismissed his special leave petition in December 2006. — PTI

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