SC refuses to buy 'good conduct' plea for commuting sentence

NEW DELHI: The SC had in 2001 commuted the death sentence of the JJ Hospital shootout case convict, Bhai Thakur, and awarded life imprisonment on the condition that he would have to spend the rest of his life in prison for the heinous act of terrorism and murder of two policemen. The SC had directed that "the accused will not be entitled to any commutation or premature release under Section 433-A of the Criminal Procedure Code, Prisoners Act, Jail Manual or any other statute and the rules made for the purpose of commutation and remissions". But Bhai Thakur, aka Subhashsingh Shobhnathsingh Thakur, has now pleaded before a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran that the SC's order, shutting out the executive from exercising its power to grant remission of sentence or commute it was "unconstitutional". Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Harish Salve on Wednesday said that human nature was a mystery and who knows when a person becomes a saint. "If a person in the real sense becomes a saint after 10 to 15 years in prison, could it be said that he should never be given the benefit of remission or commutation of sentence, a power which the Constitution vests solely in the executive," he argued. "To do so judicially would be unconstitutional," he added. The bench raised a preliminary objection - why is the plea being raised after so many years at a time when the judgment has attained finality? "Even if a judgment is wrong, after it attains finality, the apex court cannot review it," the bench said. "It would be inhuman to snatch away the fundamental rights of a lifer to expect commutation of life imprsionment for his good conduct. How can such an illegal condition be attached to the judicial order," Salve said. Responding to the arguments, the bench said: "If commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment was inhuman, so be it. When the life imprisonment was being awarded in place of death sentence, the convict accepted it and went away. If we entertain such petitions to review judgments which have attained finality, then we will be opening the flood gates for such litigation." The bench, however, decided to examine the issue and issued notice to the Maharashtra government. It also sought assistance from Solicitor General G E Vahanvati in the matter. On September 12, 1992, Bhai Thakur allegedly killed Shailesh Shankar Haldankar, who was undergoing treatment in JJ Hospital. He also killed the two police constables guarding the prisoner. Bhai Thakur was arrested on July 18, 1993.

THE TIMES OF INDIA; 17 Apr 2008, 0126 hrs IST , TNN