The Gujarat High Court has ordered the state government to decide within six months on the pardon request of LeT member Shahnawaz Bhatti, who is serving a life sentence after being arrested with 22 kg of RDX in 2001.
Justice MR Mingdi issued this direction on June 17 after being informed that the opinion of the Prison Advisory Committee had been sought on Bhatti’s clemency application.
“Considering these aspects, the relevant authority must take an appropriate decision, in accordance with law, regarding granting pardon to the petitioner, as soon as possible, preferably within six months from the date of receipt of the order,” Justice Mngdi said.
Bhatti, a Pakistani national, was arrested near the Kutch border in 2001, with 22 kg of RDX, an AK-56 assault rifle, and ammunition. Investigators alleged that he infiltrated India as part of a conspiracy by the Lashkar-e-Taiba to carry out terrorist activities.
A trial court in Kutch sentenced Bhatti to death. But the Gujarat High Court refused to confirm the death penalty in August 2007, and commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment.
In his petition to the Supreme Court, Bhatti asserted that he had spent more than two decades in prison without being released on parole and that his application for pardon had been pending for nearly two years.
Taking note of the prison authorities’ assertion that the process of considering amnesty has already begun with the opinion of the Prisons Advisory Committee, the court directed the competent authority to complete the process and take a decision in accordance with the law within six months.
