Lawyers’ body to file review plea for Bhullar

Stressing that the Supreme Court failed to take cognisance of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar’s mental condition,the Lawyers for Human Rights International has decided to file a review petition in the apex court and before the President.

Addressing the media persons here on Monday,general secretary of the organisation,advocate Navkiran Singh,said that the five-judge constitutional SC bench in 1989 had given Bhullar permission to invoke the court’s jurisdiction on protection of his fundamental rights but this recent judgement,according to the lawyer,has diluted the spirit of the 1989 judgment. “The two-bench judgment rejected his case saying that it involved an act of terrorism so death sentence cannot be converted into life imprisonment,” he added. The lawyer further said that the judges had missed the fact that Bhullar had been admitted to a mental hospital since January 2011.

The organisation also held that the procedure being adopted by the Centre,which recommends death penalty cases to the President,needs revision. “It has come to our notice that the mental state of Bhullar was not put before the President as well when he rejected his mercy petition,” asserted Singh. He also hailed the move of the Punjab Chief Minister and Deputy CM for meeting the Prime Minister over the issue.