INDIA: CONDEMNED PRISONERS CANNOT FIGHT DEATH PENALTY ENDLESSLY (SUPREME COURT)

While hearing a plea to commute the death sentence of two convicts for killing a family of seven, the Supreme Court on 23 January 2020 underlined that the “finality” of death sentence is extremely important and said that condemned prisoners should not be under the impression that the death penalty remains “open ended” and can be challenged all the time by them.
“One cannot go on fighting endlessly for everything,” the Chief Justice S A Bobde-led bench was quoted as saying by PTI. 
The bench, which also comprised justices S A Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, further said that punishment awarded to convicts are for their crimes and added “if one goes by innocence of a human being, even the worst criminal has an innocent heart.”
The court’s observation on death penalty comes at a time when execution of the convicts of the 2012 Delhi gangrape case has been delayed with the convicts seeking last available legal remedies. The convicts were sentenced to death in September 2013. This was upheld by the High Court in March 2014 and by the Supreme Court in May 2017. A Delhi court has now fixed February 1 as the fresh date for the execution.