INDIA. SUPREME COURT REJECTS CURATIVE PETITION

a “curative petition” filed by S. S. Lakra, on death row for killing a retired brigadier and two members of his family, was dismissed by the Indian Supreme Court.
The Curative petition is the last opportunity available before the Supreme Court to rectify any apparent error of law or fact after exhausting all avenues including appeals and reviews petitions. Lakra, a domestic helper, killed his employer and his family in 1994 in Dehra Dun after he was threatened with being out of a job. His counsel, Colin Gonsalves, drew the apex court’s attention to a new document — a private school certificate which said that Lakra was 15 when he committed the crime. The bench refused to take note of the private school certificate. The convict was arrested in 2000 and convicted of murder and sentenced to death by the trial court. The Uttaranchal High Court also dismissed his appeal. The Supreme Court had dismissed his appeal in December 2002 and review petition in March 2003. The only option left before him was to file a mercy petition before the governor or the President.