the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of a death row convict, Ajay Kumar Pal, to life

the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of a death row convict, Ajay Kumar Pal, to life imprisonment, holding the Central government responsible for causing "inordinate delay" for nearly four years in deciding his mercy plea.
The court has not only dealt with the delay in execution of death sentence but also the issue that he was kept in solitary confinement from the same day the apex court had dismissed his appeal against the capital punishment.
Pal was working as a domestic help for 10 years at the house of a serving Indian Forest Service officer, Dhirendra Kumar. In June 2003, Pal had killed his master and four other family members, including three children, and later set the house on fire.