India’s growing frontline defender organization for protection of Human Rights ‘TAHRIR’ welcomes Allahabad high court’s verdict on Surinder Koli's death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

‘TAHRIR’  believes that the death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state. This cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is done in the name of justice. It violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. TAHRIR opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner.

We, at TAHRIR believe that there have been and always will be cases of executions of innocent people. No matter how developed a justice system is, it will always remain susceptible to human failure. Unlike prison sentences, the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable. We believe that the arbitrary application of the death penalty can never be ruled out. The death penalty is often used in a disproportional manner against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic, political and religious groups. The death penalty is incompatible with human rights and human dignity. The death penalty violates the right to life which happens to be the most basic of all human rights. It also violates the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Furthermore, the death penalty undermines human dignity which is inherent to every human being. The death penalty does not deter crime effectively. The death penalty lacks the deterrent effect which is commonly referred to by its advocates. As recently stated by the General Assembly of the United Nations, “there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty” (UNGA Resolution 65/206). It is noteworthy that in many retentionist states, the effectiveness of the death penalty in order to prevent crime is being seriously questioned by a continuously increasing number of law enforcement professionals. Moreover, Public support for the death penalty does not necessarily mean that taking away the life of a human being by the state is right. There are undisputed historical precedences where gross human rights violations had had the support of a majority of the people, but which were condemned vigorously later on. It is the job of leading figures and politicians to underline the incompatibility of capital punishment with human rights and human dignity. It needs to be pointed out that public support for the death penalty is inextricably linked to the desire of the people to be free from crime. However, there exist more effective ways to prevent crime.

High Court Allahabad has commuted death sentence of Surinder Koli to life imprisonment on the ground of "inordinate delay" in deciding his mercy petition.A division bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PKS Baghel held that execution of Koli's death sentence would be "unconstitutional in view of the inordinate delay" in deciding his mercy petition.The order has come on a Public Interest Litigation filed by NGO People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) which contended that the period elapsed in disposal of Koli's mercy petition was "3 years and 3 months" and, as such, execution of death sentence would be in violation of the Right to Life granted in Article 21 of the Constitution.A petition was filed later by Koli himself, challenging the death sentence on the same ground as the one stated in the PIL, has also been clubbed with it.The death sentence was awarded to him by a special CBI court at Ghaziabad on February 13, 2009.The PIL was filed on October 31 last year, three days after the Supreme Court rejected Koli's recall application. The death warrant issued by the trial court on September 2 had fixed September 12 as the date of hanging, though its execution was stayed in view of the apex court's decision to hear the recall application. Rejection of the recall application had cleared the decks for execution of the death sentence, but it was stayed by the high court on October 31 when it decided to hear the PIL.After his appeal against the trial court order was turned down by High Court on September 11, 2009 while co-accused and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher was acquitted, Koli filed a petition before the Supreme Court challenging his conviction which was dismissed on February 15, 2011.Koli, thereafter filed his mercy petition before the Governor of Uttar Pradesh on May 7, 2011, which was rejected 23 months later, on April 2, 2013.The mercy petition was thereafter forwarded to the Union Home Ministry on July 19, 2013 and it was turned down by the President on July 20, 2014.The court had agreed to hear the PIL disagreeing with the Centre's preliminary objection that "the convict (Koli) had not filed a petition (at the time of filing of the PIL) challenging the rejection of his mercy petition"."The proceeding which has been instituted before this court is not in the nature of an appeal on merits against the order of conviction."The petition seeks to question the constitutionality of the execution of the sentence of death in the present case, on the ground of a delay on the part of constitutional authorities in disposing of the mercy petitions," the court had said.