Supreme Court of India · 2023-05-03
BALWANT SINGH vs UNION OF INDIA
- Citation / case number
- SC 2020/18597
- Court
- Supreme Court of India
- Petitioner
- BALWANT SINGH
- Respondent
- UNION OF INDIA
- Author
- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIKRAM NATH
- Bench
- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE B.R. GAVAI, HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIKRAM NATH, HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KAROL
Judgment text excerpt
The Supreme Court addressed a writ petition seeking commutation of a death sentence due to an inordinate delay of over eight years in deciding the petition for clemency filed under Article 72. The court emphasized the importance of timely decisions in mercy petitions and recognized that undue delay can impact the rights of the convict. Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of the petitioner, directing the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment.