Devender Pal Singh Bhullar,a former engineering college lecturer on death row for over 5,700 days for killing nine security personnel in a bomb blast in Delhi,has won a brief respite according to his lawyer,when the Supreme Court agreed to hear him argue that a death penalty can only be confirmed by a Constitution Bench of the apex court,and that too,unanimously. Bhullar's lawyer and senior advocate K T S Tulsi,a leading criminal law practitioner,has bought more time for his client when he happened to kindle the court's interest with a two-fold submission today: that death penalty should only be handed out by a Constitution Bench a Bench of minimum five judges of the apex court and there should be no death penalty if the judges differ. Experts say this question from Bhullar's side raises the probability that henceforth in all murder cases in which death penalty is given,the Supreme Court has to set up a Constitution Bench,which has to arrive at a unanimous decision. This amounts to an additional check on death penalty. Earlier,Justice M B Shah (now retired) of the Supreme Court and a member of the three-judge Bench who confirmed the death penalty in the case,had actually acquitted Bhullar. "The Supreme Court has allowed Bhullar to amend his writ petition. As per the Supreme Court,Bhullar can now raise additional grounds to challenge his death sentence on the plea that his verdict is fractured. Out of the total of three judges who confirmed death sentence to Bhullar,one had acquitted him. Secondly,as advised by the Law Commission,death sentence can be awarded by a Full Bench of five judges where as in case of Bhullar it was a three-judge Bench," Tulsi said. Justices G S Singhvi and H L Dattu said Tulsi's argument raised a "constitutional question". The hearing was based on a writ petition filed by Bhullar in the Supreme Court challenging the "inordinate delay" to decide his mercy petition. The President went on to reject Bhullar's mercy petition,pending since 2003,on May 25,2011,shortly after the condemned man moved the court.
