The Karnataka High Court on Thursday stayed the execution of Umesh Reddy, who was sentenced to death in a rape and murder case, during the pendency of his petition, in which he sought a direction from the court for commuting death penalty to life imprisonment based on “compelling supervening circumstances”.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice Budihal R.B., passed the interim order after a preliminary round of hearing of Reddy’s petition, as the State government has sought time to file its written statement opposing the plea.
The prison authorities were preparing for the execution of the death sentence and were awaiting orders from the jurisdictional court as the Supreme Court on October 3 this year rejected his review plea against the apex court’s order of conforming the death penalty. The President had rejected his mercy petition in 2013.
It was contended that the death sentence has become “non-executable” due to delay of over two years in disposal of the mercy petition; confining him to solitary imprisonment; and his mental illness, as these circumstances fall under the “compelling supervening circumstances” defined by the Supreme Court for commuting the confirmed death penalties to life sentence.
Reddy, argued his counsel, is pleading for commuting death to life imprisonment “not as an accused”, but as a “victim of violation of fundamental rights”.
The State was asked to submit its response in 10 days.
