President Droupadi Murmu has rejected the mercy petition of Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Arif alias Ashfaq convicted in the nearly 24-year-old Red Fort attack case, an official said on Wednesday (June 12). This was the second mercy plea rejected by the President after assuming office on July 25, 2022.
On November 3, 2022, the Supreme Court had dismissed Arif’s review petition and upheld the death penalty awarded to him in the case. However, a death row convict can still knock on the doors of the top court seeking commutation of his sentence on the ground of prolonged delay under Article 32 of the Constitution, feel experts.
The mercy plea from the terrorist, received on May 15, was turned down on May 27, according to officials who quoted the President's secretariat order of May 29.
What had Supreme Court said?
The Supreme Court, while upholding the death sentence, noted that there were no mitigating circumstances in Arif's favour and emphasised that the attack on the Red Fort posed a direct threat to the country's unity, integrity, and sovereignty.
The attack, which took place on December 22, 2000, saw intruders opening fire at the 7 Rajputana Rifles unit stationed within the Red Fort premises, resulting in the deaths of three Army personnel. Arif, a Pakistani national and a member of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was arrested by Delhi Police four days after the attack.
"Appellant-accused Mohd. Arif alias Ashfaq was a Pakistani national and had entered the Indian territory illegally," the Supreme Court's order of 2022 had stated.
(With PTI inputs)
