It’s an irony of law that we can’t even hang the killers even though they are convicted and their mercy petition was rejected by the President, their guilt is proven beyond doubt and they deserve no mercy. The Supreme Court gave a lifeline to four associates of Veerappan by staying their hanging for six weeks.

Gnanaprakash, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran were waiting to face the gallows in the Hindalga Central Jail, Belagaum in Karnataka. However, the apex court stayed the hanging while hearing a writ petition filed by advocate Shamik Narain, who sought their death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment.

Although President Pranab Mukherjee has already rejected their mercy plea, the matter would again come up for hearing in the Supreme Court. They were convicted of killing 22 persons in a landmine blast in 1993.

There have been protests in Kashmir over the verdict. Many people wondered why Afzal Guru was not given a chance to appeal in the Supreme Court after the President rejected his mercy plea and was hanged secretly. They accused the Indian government of adopting different yardsticks and being bias.