The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the plea of two death row convicts for Wednesday following the court was informed that a review application had been filed in the Supreme Court as well, which is to be taken up on Tuesday.
The duo, convicted of kidnapping and killing of Hoshiarpur boy Abhi Verma that took place in 2005, is to be executed on October 25, as per the recent death warrants issued by a Hoshiarpur court.
The Punjab government on Monday submitted before the high court the status of the case in an affidavit filed by the jails department, but has not taken a categorical stand as yet.
The two killers, whose death sentence has been upheld by the Supreme Court, had moved the high court, seeking stay on their execution and that it be commuted to life sentence.
The petitioners, Jasbir Singh, alias Jassa; and Vikram Singh, alias Vicky, both residents of Hoshiarpur, are lodged at the Patiala Central Jail.
The petitioners argued that they had been in solitary confinement for more than 10 years and now the Punjab government was working in haste to hang them. The court was also told that in several cases, the Supreme Court had accepted delay as the ground for conversion of death sentence into life imprisonment. In this case as well, there was delay of seven years in their execution after the Supreme Court had upheld their conviction, they argued.
{{/usCountry}}The petitioners argued that they had been in solitary confinement for more than 10 years and now the Punjab government was working in haste to hang them. The court was also told that in several cases, the Supreme Court had accepted delay as the ground for conversion of death sentence into life imprisonment. In this case as well, there was delay of seven years in their execution after the Supreme Court had upheld their conviction, they argued.
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