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Jasbir Singh @ Jassa v. The State of Punjab

Special Leave Petition (Criminal) · 2021 INSC 858Decided 9 Dec 2021
Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 9875 of 2019
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice S. Ravindra Bhat · Justice Bela M. Trivedi

Background

The appellants' death sentences for murder and other offences had earlier been affirmed by the Supreme Court, and their review petitions were dismissed. They then filed a writ petition arguing that unexplained and undue delay by the authorities in deciding their mercy petitions entitled them to commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment. A Single Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed that writ petition, and when the appellants tried to appeal that dismissal through an intra-court Letters Patent Appeal (LPA), a Division Bench held such an appeal was not legally maintainable.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that a writ petition based on delay in deciding mercy petitions is legally distinct and independent from the original criminal proceedings that led to the conviction and death sentence: it does not reopen the case on merits, and courts in such proceedings do not revisit guilt. Because of this distinction, the Division Bench was wrong to treat it like a criminal-jurisdiction matter barred from intra-court appeal under the Letters Patent; the LPA was, in fact, maintainable. The Court allowed the appeals, set aside the Division Bench's view, and restored the Letters Patent Appeals to the High Court for fresh consideration on their merits, requesting disposal within three months. A connected special leave petition was disposed of as no longer requiring separate orders.

Lesson Learnt

A writ petition claiming that delay in deciding mercy petitions violates the right to life (Article 21) is treated as a separate, independent proceeding from the original criminal case, meaning normal appeal rights (including an intra-court appeal where the Letters Patent allows it) remain available against a decision on that writ petition.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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