HC stays execution of Kolhapur sisters

Mumbai: In a major relief for two Kolhapur sisters whose mercy pleas were recently rejected by the President, the Bombay high court on Wednesday stayed their execution till disposal of their petition seeking commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment, reports PTI. Admitting the petition of Renuka Shinde and Anjana Gavit, a division bench of the court also directed the Centre and Maharashtra government to explain within three weeks the reasons for the delay in deciding their mercy petitions. Observing that the high court had powers under Article 226 of the Constitution to entertain the plea of the sisters who kidnapped children, made them beg and commit petty crimes before killing them, Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode ruled the petition was maintainable. The court posted the next hearing on September 9 after the state government assured it will not go ahead with the execution of the death sentence awarded to the duo till the time their plea was decided. “Until such time, the death sentence would be kept in abeyance,” the court ruled. Shinde and Gavit have in their petition contended that the President had taken more than five years to decide their mercy petitions when such a plea should have been disposed of within three months.