SC directs creation of dedicated cell to deal with mercy petitions
NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday passed a slew of directions for early disposal of mercy petitions filed by convicts, and directed that a dedicated cell shall be constituted by the home department or the prison department of the state governments/Union Territories for dealing with such petitions.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih said the dedicated cell shall be responsible for the prompt processing of mercy petitions within the time frame laid down by the respective governments.
“An officer-in-charge of the dedicated cell shall be nominated by designation who shall receive and issue communications on behalf of the dedicated cell. An official of the law and judiciary or justice department of the state governments/Union Territories should be attached to the dedicated cell so constituted,” the bench said.
