HC stays Suriender Koli’s execution till 25 November
2 Nov 2014 5:25 AM IST
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court, in the first open court hearing of the review petition of death sentence cases, had cleared the decks for Koli’s execution after it dismissed his plea seeking a review of the judgment.
‘We are fully satisfied that this court has not committed any error that may persuade us to review the order,’ a bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu, Justice AR Dave and Justice SA Bobde had said. Koli’s lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, had argued that he was not given proper legal assistance to defend himself and that the entire evidence relied upon by the trial court in convicting and sentencing him to death showed that he was tortured by police to confess the crime. The autopsy report showed that the murder of 14 children was committed with the precision of a medical expert with the alleged objective of trading in organs, he argued.
Jethmalani had said that in none of the 14 cases of killing was the torso of the dead recovered, pointing to the possible dimension of organ trade in the case. On 24 July, the apex court had rejected Koli’s plea seeking the recall of its 15 February, 2011 order upholding his death sentence in one of the 16 cases of rape and killing being faced by him.
President Pranab Mukherjee had in July also rejected Koli’s mercy plea. He visited the Donation and Transplantation Institute Foundation, Barcelona, one of the leading centres of the world for research in organ transplantation housed in University of Barcelona University.
The health ministry said the Indian organ and tissue donation and transplantation scenario is in for major development with the government committed to make National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation a world class institution. Regional centres will also be commissioned in six cities subsequently.
‘We are fully satisfied that this court has not committed any error that may persuade us to review the order,’ a bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu, Justice AR Dave and Justice SA Bobde had said. Koli’s lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, had argued that he was not given proper legal assistance to defend himself and that the entire evidence relied upon by the trial court in convicting and sentencing him to death showed that he was tortured by police to confess the crime. The autopsy report showed that the murder of 14 children was committed with the precision of a medical expert with the alleged objective of trading in organs, he argued.
Jethmalani had said that in none of the 14 cases of killing was the torso of the dead recovered, pointing to the possible dimension of organ trade in the case. On 24 July, the apex court had rejected Koli’s plea seeking the recall of its 15 February, 2011 order upholding his death sentence in one of the 16 cases of rape and killing being faced by him.
President Pranab Mukherjee had in July also rejected Koli’s mercy plea. He visited the Donation and Transplantation Institute Foundation, Barcelona, one of the leading centres of the world for research in organ transplantation housed in University of Barcelona University.
The health ministry said the Indian organ and tissue donation and transplantation scenario is in for major development with the government committed to make National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation a world class institution. Regional centres will also be commissioned in six cities subsequently.
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