The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing on the mercy petition filed by Swami Shraddhanand, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife, for two weeks.
The bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjeev Khanna, has granted two weeks for the lawyer representing the Central Government to take instructions from the government on the matter.
Shraddhanand, also known as Murali Manohar Mishra, filed the mercy petition to expedite the review of his plea, which he submitted to the President in December 2023. A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih is currently hearing the petition.
Advocate Varun Thakur, representing the 84-year-old convict, argued that Shraddhanand has already spent 30 years in jail without receiving a single day of parole. The petition also refers to an earlier plea filed by Shraddhanand, in which he had requested the death penalty. The Supreme Court had rejected that request, with the bench stating that no accused can seek the death penalty based solely on their conviction.
During a previous hearing, the court addressed Shraddhanand’s request for the death penalty. The bench emphasized that the court’s role is to determine the appropriate punishment, based on the facts of the case.
In response, Shraddhanand’s lawyer contended that the life imprisonment sentence prevents him from applying for premature release under Section 432 of IPC. The bench pointed out that the petition aimed to protect Shraddhanand from a death sentence.
Swami Shraddhanand, originally named Murali Manohar Mishra, was convicted for murdering his wife, Shakira. Shakira married Shraddhanand in 1986, a year after divorcing her previous husband, Akbar Khalili.
The murder, which took place in 1991, was committed to seize Shakira’s property, estimated at Rs 600 crore. After poisoning Shakira, Shraddhanand buried her alive. Authorities exhumed her body in 1994, and they arrested Shraddhanand on April 30, 1994.
A lower court sentenced Shraddhanand to death in 2000, and the Karnataka High Court upheld the ruling in 2005. However, following an appeal, the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment in 2008.
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