New Delhi:
The confession of Amir Ajmal Kasab, lone terrorist caught after 26/11, has thrown open the debate on the death penalty.
The Maharashtra Chief Minister says Kasab should be hanged for his crime. But in New Delhi, there seems to be a rethink on the death penalty.
NDTV has learnt that the President is contemplating a complete relook at the 26 death row cases after growing pressure from civil rights activists and the Amnesty International to abolish the death penalty.
It is a demand that even the Law minister seems to support. "I do agree our law needs to be more reformative than terminal," said Veerappa Moily, Union Law Minister.
Even the home ministry has called for a detailed road map to tackle mercy petitions pending since 1997.
Most of the cases relate to murder for property, family feuds, rape and terror activities and the accused belong to economically weaker sections of society. The punishment was death as the crime involved extreme brutality and lack of human compassion.
But any attempt to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment can be a political hot potato.
Opposition parties have been accusing the government of dragging its feet over Afzal Guru's execution for political reasons.
"We will see the fine print but we want the government to act fast on the terrorist cases," said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Leader, BJP.
Commuting the death sentence is not going to be an easy political decision for any President and with the government planning to separate terrorist cases from criminal cases a road map may be set for the early disposal of the mercy petitions of 50 condemned prisoners.