The government is fast tracking efforts to dispose of mercy petition of 26/11 death row convict Ajmal Kasab at the earliest. Indicating that the UPA government is in no mood to allow Kasab’s mercy plea meet the fate of some other mercy petitions hanging fire for years, consultations have begun between the Union home ministry and the Maharashtra government over the modalities of disposing off the mercy petition of the lone surviving 26/11 gunman who killed 166 persons in the deadly Mumbai terror attacks.
Given the unique nature of Kasab’s offence which has national security implications, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday asked the Union home ministry to clarify the procedure, including the role of the governor in the treatment of the mercy plea. The MHA has promptly indicated to the Maharashtra government that the primary decision making authority on Kasab’s mercy plea is the governor of the state. Once the governor rejects the mercy plea, top government official said, the MHA will examine the petition and put up the case before the President for a final decision.
Citing the federal setup, the MHA is of the opinion that law and order being a state subject, Kasab’s offence falls under the purview of the state government making the governor’s opinion mandatory in deciding the fate of his mercy plea. Interestingly, offences related to fake Indian currency can exclusively be dealt by the Centre since they fall under the Central list.
The Maharashtra home department has opined that Kasab’s mercy plea should be rejected.
With the MHA showing the way forward, the state government will now take the formal route to dispose off Kasab’s plea.
The rulebook, quoted by the MHA, says mercy petitions in the case of states, “shall be sent to the state governments for consideration and orders of the governor’’. “If after consideration it is rejected it shall be forwarded to the secretary to the government of India in the ministry of home affairs.” The rulebook also makes a reference to mercy petitions made in case “where the death sentence is for an offence against the law exclusively related to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends.” Kasab has sought Presidential pardon and his plea was sent to the state home department last week.