The Supreme Court today set aside a death warrant issued by a Principal Sessions Judge in Tamil Nadu..The Bench of Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna noted that the warrant for the execution of death sentence was issued before the period for filing of SLP was over and was, therefore, contrary to law..The petitioner Kattavellai @ Devkar was sentenced to death on March 7, 2018 by the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Theni after holding him guilty of murder and rape..The death sentence of the Sessions Court was affirmed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on March 13, 2019..A warrant for the execution of the petitioner was issued by the Principal Sessions Judge, Theni on March 27, 2019..The said warrant was issued even before the period for filing of Special Leave Petition to Supreme Court was over..Hence, the convict preferred a petition in the Supreme Court under Article 32..Meanwhile, the counsel for the petitioner also wrote to the Principal Sessions Judge seeking a copy of the death warrant. Subsequently, the Principal Sessions judge recalled the death warrant..Nevertheless, the matter was taken up for hearing by the Supreme Court today..The Court today proceeded to set aside the warrant of execution of death sentence. It noted that the warrant which was passed before the period for filing SLP was over, is against the law laid down in Shabnam vs. Union of India & Ors., [(2015) 6 SCC 702]..“…as the period for filing of a special leave petition/an appeal against the order of conviction and sentence passed is yet to be over, we are of the view that the warrant for execution of death sentence, dated 27.3.2019, is contrary to the law laid down by this Court in Shabnam vs. Union of India & Ors., (2015) 6 SCC 702. Accordingly, we deem it proper, without issuing any notice, to set aside the said warrant of execution of death sentence and allow this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution.”.The Court also directed that as and when the convict files SLP, it shall “receive due attention of the Court.”.The petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave and advocates Ninni Susan Thomas, Shreya Rastogi, Kajal Bhatia, and A Karthik.Read the order below..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
The Supreme Court today set aside a death warrant issued by a Principal Sessions Judge in Tamil Nadu..The Bench of Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna noted that the warrant for the execution of death sentence was issued before the period for filing of SLP was over and was, therefore, contrary to law..The petitioner Kattavellai @ Devkar was sentenced to death on March 7, 2018 by the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Theni after holding him guilty of murder and rape..The death sentence of the Sessions Court was affirmed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on March 13, 2019..A warrant for the execution of the petitioner was issued by the Principal Sessions Judge, Theni on March 27, 2019..The said warrant was issued even before the period for filing of Special Leave Petition to Supreme Court was over..Hence, the convict preferred a petition in the Supreme Court under Article 32..Meanwhile, the counsel for the petitioner also wrote to the Principal Sessions Judge seeking a copy of the death warrant. Subsequently, the Principal Sessions judge recalled the death warrant..Nevertheless, the matter was taken up for hearing by the Supreme Court today..The Court today proceeded to set aside the warrant of execution of death sentence. It noted that the warrant which was passed before the period for filing SLP was over, is against the law laid down in Shabnam vs. Union of India & Ors., [(2015) 6 SCC 702]..“…as the period for filing of a special leave petition/an appeal against the order of conviction and sentence passed is yet to be over, we are of the view that the warrant for execution of death sentence, dated 27.3.2019, is contrary to the law laid down by this Court in Shabnam vs. Union of India & Ors., (2015) 6 SCC 702. Accordingly, we deem it proper, without issuing any notice, to set aside the said warrant of execution of death sentence and allow this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution.”.The Court also directed that as and when the convict files SLP, it shall “receive due attention of the Court.”.The petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave and advocates Ninni Susan Thomas, Shreya Rastogi, Kajal Bhatia, and A Karthik.Read the order below..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
