Vinay Sharma v. Union of India, AIR 2020 SC 1451
Court: Supreme Court of India
Issue: The rejection of mercy petition by the President was challenged by the Nirbhaya Convicts on various grounds such as solitary confinement, non-consideration of relevant documents by President and Lt. Governor, inter alia.
Held: In a writ petition seeking the judicial review of the order of the President passed under Article 72 of the Constitution, the scope of review by the Supreme Court is very limited and the court is called upon to examine:-
- Whether the order has been passed without application of mind.
- Whether the order has been passed on extraneous or wholly irrelevant considerations
- Whether the relevant materials have been kept out of consideration
- The order suffers from arbitrariness.
Single room where the Petitioner was placed had iron bars open to air and the same cannot be equated with solitary confinement as the Petitioner was permitted to come out and mingle with other inmates at regular interval.
The rejection of mercy petition of the Nirbhaya convicts was held to be valid and in accordance with law.