Mohd. Arif alias Ashfaq v. Registrar, Supreme Court of India and Others
"Because a sentence of death is irreversible, Article 21 requires that review petitions in death sentence cases be given a limited oral hearing in open court before a Bench of at least three Judges, rather than being decided by circulation in chambers."
Issues Before the Court
- (i)
Whether review petitions against judgments confirming a sentence of death may be decided by circulation in chambers, without an oral hearing, under Order XL Rule 3 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966?
- (ii)
If not, how and by what Bench must such review petitions be heard?
Law & Rules Applicable
- (i)
Constitution of India, Article 21 (a procedure depriving a person of life must be fair, just and reasonable) and Article 137 (review).
- (ii)
Supreme Court Rules, 1966, Order XL Rule 3 (review petitions ordinarily disposed of by circulation without oral arguments), and Supreme Court Rules, 2013, Order VI Rule 3 (cases involving a sentence of death to be heard by a Bench of at least three Judges).
Application to Facts & Circumstances
Persons under sentence of death, including the petitioner, who had been convicted for the attack on the Red Fort in December 2000, challenged the practice of deciding their review petitions by circulation, without an oral hearing.
Writing for the majority, Nariman J. held that a sentence of death is irreversible, and that Article 21 requires a limited oral hearing even at the review stage in all death sentence cases. An oral hearing can make a real difference in such cases, where the outcome may turn on the assessment of mitigating circumstances.
Review petitions in death sentence cases, including cases under the TADA, must therefore be heard in open court, ordinarily by the Bench that heard the appeal and in any event by a Bench of not less than three Judges, with an outer limit of thirty minutes for oral arguments.
The rule applies to pending and future review petitions, and to cases in which the review petition had already been dismissed but the sentence had not been executed; those could be reopened on an application made within one month. It does not apply where a curative petition has also been dismissed. Chelameswar J. dissented in part, holding that Article 21 does not compel an oral hearing of review petitions in every death sentence case.
Conclusion & Ruling
- (i)
Review petitions in all death sentence cases must be given a limited oral hearing in open court, before a Bench of at least three Judges, for up to thirty minutes.
- (ii)
Persons whose review petitions had been dismissed by circulation but who had not been executed could apply within one month to have them reopened; those whose curative petitions had also been dismissed could not.
- (iii)
The writ petitions were disposed of on these terms.