10-07-2006, 03:13 AM
One of India's brightest minds on legal issue, Soli J. Sorabjee's (former attorney general for India) writes in IE: Before we tender clemency
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->If there is any scintilla of doubt about the convictâs guilt or if the death penalty appears too harsh â to many it does not, nor did it to the Supreme Court â then the proper course could be to commute it to full life imprisonment. Clemency must be exercised on definite principles. Justice and the Rule of Law must not be sacrificed at the altar of sheer expediency and speculative political considerations and likely fallout.
<b>A full pardon having regard to the enormity of the crime and the killing of security personnel who were patriotically performing their duty would set a pernicious precedent, outrage the sense of injustice in the minds of the victims and open a veritable Pandoraâs box. Moreover the Rule of Law, which is a basic feature of our Constitution, would be the foremost casualty and will go up in flames which must be avoided at all costs. </b>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->If there is any scintilla of doubt about the convictâs guilt or if the death penalty appears too harsh â to many it does not, nor did it to the Supreme Court â then the proper course could be to commute it to full life imprisonment. Clemency must be exercised on definite principles. Justice and the Rule of Law must not be sacrificed at the altar of sheer expediency and speculative political considerations and likely fallout.
<b>A full pardon having regard to the enormity of the crime and the killing of security personnel who were patriotically performing their duty would set a pernicious precedent, outrage the sense of injustice in the minds of the victims and open a veritable Pandoraâs box. Moreover the Rule of Law, which is a basic feature of our Constitution, would be the foremost casualty and will go up in flames which must be avoided at all costs. </b>
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