The Curious Case of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar

Most of you must have read the news a few days back about President Pratibha Patil rejecting the mercy plea of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar – the first such “decision” in more than 10 years. At least some of you would have also read about the demands from some political parties to pardon Devinderpal Singh  and/or reconsider the decision. Very few of you might have thought any more about it. I was in the same camp…until an email from my friend Gurmeet shook me up. Below the story of an extraordinary conviction and the tragedy of a young man now spending his 17th year in prison (actually in a hospital, going by some accounts)…

Excerpts from “Judicial Murder: The Case of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar“ by Gurmeet Kaur (emphasis added)…

…For readers unfamiliar with the case, Devinderpal Singh Bhullar (also known as Prof. Bhullar) was charged and convicted for a 1993 car bomb blast in New Delhi targeted at the then Youth Congress leader, M.S.Bitta, that had killed 9 other people. Bitta escaped with minor injuiries.

…Saving him from the death sentence unjustly conferred upon him, especially in this day and age of media-led revolutions, should not have been difficult because there is clearly no case against him.

Devinderpal’s case is one where even a layman can see that the death sentence given to him is a travesty of justice…

He was tried by the designated court in Delhi in January of 1995 under TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act) for allegedly participating in the attack on Bitta. After facing six years of trial, he was sentenced to death by the designated judge on Aug 25, 2001.  His sentence was based on a “confession” by Devinderpal purportedly recorded by a Deputy Police Commissioner during the police remand. This “confession” was recanted at the first opportunity by Devinderpal as a confession obtained by coercion and torture.

..Further, Devinderpal’s conviction under TADA was wrong on another ground, his alleged crime of conspiring to assassinate Bitta should have been tried on the charge of “attempted murder”,  not as an “act of terrorism”  as per definition and scope  of the Act. 

None of the 133 eye-witnesses produced by the prosecution identified Devinderpal as being present at the crime scene or planting a bomb in the car. There was no evidence to connect him with the crime, except for the alleged ‘confession’.

A second defendant in the case was acquitted on the same charges, in the same trial, because the only evidence against him was Devinderpal’s “confession” – the very same one on the strength of which Devinderpal himself was convicted.

Furthermore, this ‘confession’ was said to have been recorded on a computer and was never produced in the court.

In the Supreme Court appeal of his case in 2002, the presiding judge on the bench, Justice M.B. Shah acquitted him of all the charges in a dissenting judgment, stating that too much doubt remained on the authenticity of the alleged ‘confession’ to the police.

“It is trite to say that one person alone can ever be held guilty of criminal conspiracy for the simple reason that one cannot conspire with oneself,” Shah had ruled.  But the two other judges, Justice B.N. Aggarwal and Justice A. Pasayat,  upheld  the death sentence. The case failed to qualify for capital punishment because of the requirement that the sentence be unanimously held by all the judges.

Devinderpal became the first person in independent India to be condemned to death on a split verdict by a Supreme Court bench.
Since January 1995, Devinderpal has spent 16 long years in Indian prisons, and since August 2001, the day of his conviction, much of the time has been spent in solitary confinement…Today he suffers with severe mental and physical ailments.

*** End of Excerpts ***

The whole case around the conviction of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar is tenuous – to say the least.  As Gurmeet mentioned, “Even a layman who is not familiar with intricacies of law will agree that Bhullar should have been a free man today.” Based on what I have read so far, this feels hard to argue with..

Unsurprisingly, there are serious efforts underway to have the courts and the President review the case. Less than two weeks ago, the Shiromani Akali Dal issued a statement asking the PM to “personally see that the highest norms of jurisprudence, legal precedents and issues of statesmanship are kept firmly in view in the matter and a sympathetic view taken.”

The statement also cited “a Supreme Court judgment in a similar case involving the state of Orissa — where some Christians accused of engaging in conversions were murdered.” In that case, the SC had apparently  “commuted the death sentence of the accused to life imprisonment in view of the “religious and emotional factors” which led to the crime.”

I have not read anything recently which suggests a review may happen…but Devindarpal’s family continues to live in hope. I am keen to hear your views and comments on this case…which reminded me of the Curious Case of Dilip Patidar*.