NEW DELHI—Supreme Court of India (SCI), on Friday, has agreed to hear Prof. Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar’s petition seeking commutation of his death sentence to a life term and put the matter on the schedule for hearing on January 28 and 29.
The curative plea filed by Prof. Bhullar’s wife Bibi Navneet Kaur Bhullar at the SCI was pending a hearing, but now it has been listed by the Apex Court after it delivered a judgment just a few days ago to commute the death penalty of 15 convicts to life sentences stating that a delay in deciding mercy pleas and the mental health condition of a convict is relevant grounds for commuting a death sentence to life imprisonment.
It is notable that ten months ago the Supreme Court refused to the commute death sentence of Prof. Bhullar to life imprisonment.
A bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam passed the observation when senior advocate KTS Tulsi, appearing for Bhullar’s wife, explained the matter and pleaded to the court to order his medical examination as he is suffering from mental illness.
It is pertinent to mention that Prof. Bhullar’s wife filed a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict of April 12 in which the court had rejected her plea to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment on grounds of delay on the part of the government in deciding his mercy plea.
