India's Supreme Court upheld the death penalty awarded...

India's Supreme Court upheld the death penalty awarded to Devendar Pal Singh, a Khalistani militant, under the erstwhile TADA [Terrorism and Disruptive Activities(Prevention) Act] solely on the basis of a confessional statement to the police which he later retracted.
Although TADA was withdrawn in 1995, a police confession is admissible in Court under TADA's new avatar, POTA [Prevention of Terrorism Act] which got presidential assent on April 2.
Singh, an activist of the Khalistan Liberation Front (separatist movement in northern state of Punjab) was accused of the 1993 car bomb attack which targeted then Youth Congress President M.S. Bitta but killed nine others instead.
Justices Arijit Pasayat and B.N. Agrawal felt the death penalty was "the most appropriate sentence" for Singh as he had confessed "voluntarily" and his retraction was an "afterthought".
Justice M.B. Shah dissented, saying the death penalty could not be handed out merely on the basis of a "so-called confessional statement" recorded by police.