AJAY KUMAR PAL vs UNION OF INDIA AND ANR.

The Supreme Court held that the inordinate delay in the disposal of the Mercy Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India can be a valid ground for commuting a death sentence to life imprisonment. Citing the precedent in Shatrughan Chauhan v. Union of India, the Court emphasized that the delay of nearly four years in communicating the rejection of the Mercy Petition constituted a supervening circumstance warranting reconsideration of the death penalty. The Court ultimately commuted the death sentence of the petitioner to life imprisonment due to this delay and the conditions of solitary confinement.