INDIA: ‘HANGING’ IN LIMBO: 11 AWAIT EXECUTION OF DEATH PENALTY

11 people awarded the death penalty by various courts in Haryana, India, have been waiting several years for their appeals to be heard. Of the 11, four are in Ambala Jail, five in Gurgaon and two in Hisar. While some were awarded death penalty a decade ago, some have been awaiting execution for the last six years. Dharam Pal was awarded the death penalty by a trial court on June 10, 1993, for murder. His appeal was dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High court on September 29, 1998, and then by Supreme Court on March 18, 1999. Pal filed a mercy petition before the President which is pending since April 1999. Advocate Navkiran Singh said that those on death row are kept in solitary confinement. “The Supreme Court has held in various judgments that solitary confinement is inhuman and uncalled for. I have demanded that till the time the appeals and mercy petitions of these persons are decided, they should not be kept in solitary confinement,” said Navkiran. 16 people on death row in Punjab and three in Chandigarh are also awaiting decision on their appeals.