President Pranab Mukherjee

INDIA: PRESIDENT REJECTS MERCY PETITION, HARYANA RAPE MURDER CONVICT DHARAMPAL TO BE HANGED NEXT WEEK

April 3, 2013: Dharampal, the Haryana rape convict who was released on parole and went on to murder five members of the victim's family, is set to be hanged next week. President Pranab Mukherjee has rejected his mercy petition, which had been pending for 14 years.
Initially accused of raping a girl in Sonepat in 1991, Dharampal was given a 10-year jail sentence in 1993.
He had threatened the girl against deposing in court.
Within five days of being granted parole in 1993, he killed the girl's father, mother , sister and two brothers while they were sleeping at their home.
The President Pranab Mukherjee cleared the files of 9 people in 7 cases which were pending with him for clemency in the case of  death sentences. Media reports said, the President had upheld execution in five cases, while in two  cases he has commuted the death penalty to life term. Cases that were disposed of by the President include the case of Gurmeet Singh of Uttar Pradesh who was convicted for killing 13 members of a family on August 17, 1986. Other cases related to Suresh and Ramji, also from UP, who were convicted for killing five members of their brother's family.
The other cases include that of  Sonia, daughter of a former Haryana MLA, and her husband Sanjeev, who drugged and killed eight of her family members in Hisar in 2001, including her parents.
Other cases that were disposed include those of Sunder Singh from Uttarakhand was convicted for rape and murder on June 30, 1989; Zafar Ali from Uttar Pradesh was convicted for killing wife and five daughter in 2002 and Praveen Kumar of Karnataka was convicted for killing four members of a family on February 23, 1994.
The home ministry had recommended rejection of mercy pleas in five cases and left two cases open for commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment with a rider that the life term should mean jail for the entire life of the convict and not just 20 years or 14 years in prison.
A media report said,  the President does not have any mercy petition pending before him now for disposal under Article 72 of the Constitution.
The mercy files have been fast-tracked by the President since the time he took over resulting in two quick executions of 26/11 convict Pakistani Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru.
Mukherjee has also rejected the mercy petitions of Saibanna Ningappa Natikar (Karnataka: convicted for killing wife and daughter) and mercy petitions of slain brigand Veerappan's associates Gnanaprakash, Simon, 'Meesai' Madaian and Pilavendran, who were sentenced to death for killing 22 police personnel in 1993.
However, the mercy petition of Atbir (Delhi), who was convicted for murder of his step-mother, step-sister and step-brother over property, was commuted to life imprisonment by the President.
During the tenure of former President Pratibha Patil, death penalties of 35 convicts were commuted to life imprisonment between 2007 and 2012. Patil had rejected mercy pleas in three cases, involving  five convicts. (Sources: indiatvnews.com, 04/04/2013)