New Delhi: Amnesty International India yesterday said the dismissal of the plea of 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devender Pal Singh Bhullar could affect the cases of at least 17 prisoners on death row and appealed for abolition of capital punishment.
“After this judgement, India will have to resume execution including of 17 death row convicts who had filed petitions before the courts on the grounds of delay,” said Suhas Chakma of the New Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights.
“India must decide whether it wants the tag of the top five executioners of the world along with China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq,” Chakma said in a statement.
President Pranab Mukherjee, who took office last July, has signalled a hard line on the death penalty by regularly dismissing mercy pleas -- unlike his three predecessors.
More than 400 people are on death row in India.
Agencies
