Summary
The Supreme Court dismissed a death-row prisoner’s challenge to rejection of his mercy petition. On examining the official files, it found that the relevant judgments, prison records, medical reports and social-investigation material had been considered. Allegations of missing signatures, unlawful solitary confinement and bias were not established. The Court applied limited judicial review of clemency decisions and declined to decide the separate grievance concerning supply of documents under the RTI Act.
Issues
- Whether the mercy decision was vitiated by non-application of mind or exclusion of relevant material.
- Whether the alleged confinement, medical condition or public statements established a ground for review.
Held
- Clemency decisions are subject to limited judicial review for grounds including non-application of mind, mala fides, irrelevant considerations, exclusion of relevant material and arbitrariness. The reviewing court does not undertake an appeal on the merits of clemency. (¶¶ 10, 11, 12, 13, 16)
- The Court inspected the files and found the relevant signatures and consideration of the case records, judgments, nominal roll, medical material and social-investigation report. The asserted omissions and non-application of mind were therefore unsupported. (¶¶ 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 26, 30)
- Medical records included treatment details and a recent report describing a stable condition and psychological adjustment. The prison affidavit described limited protective placement with opportunities to mingle with other prisoners, rather than the alleged solitary confinement. The grounds advanced did not warrant review on this record. (¶¶ 24, 25, 27, 28)
- The detailed consideration of relevant material supplied no basis to infer that public statements by ministers had biased the advice or decision. The RTI disclosure grievance was outside this petition’s limited scope; the Court did not decide a general entitlement or exemption under that Act. (¶¶ 15, 17, 29, 30, 31, 32)
Result
Writ petition dismissed; no ground established to review rejection of the mercy petition or grant the requested commutation.