President Droupadi Murmu has rejected the mercy plea of Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Arif alias Ashfaq, who was convicted in the Red Fort attack case nearly 24 years ago. This marks the second mercy plea the President has denied since assuming office on July 25, 2022.
Arif's review petition had been dismissed by the Supreme Court on November 3, 2022, thereby affirming the death penalty imposed on him. Despite the rejection, legal experts note that a death row convict can still petition the Supreme Court for commutation of the sentence on the grounds of prolonged delay under Article 32 of the Constitution.
The President’s secretariat disclosed that the mercy petition from Arif, received on May 15, was turned down on May 27, as per the order dated May 29.
The Supreme Court, while upholding the death sentence, made it clear that there were no mitigating circumstances in Arif’s favor and highlighted the direct threat posed to the nation's unity, integrity, and sovereignty by the attack on the Red Fort.
The attack, which occurred on December 22, 2000, involved intruders opening fire at the 7 Rajputana Rifles unit stationed within the Red Fort premises, resulting in the deaths of three Army personnel. Arif, a Pakistani national and a member of the banned terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was apprehended by Delhi Police four days after the incident.
The Supreme Court's 2022 order stated, "Appellant-accused Mohd. Arif alias Ashfaq was a Pakistani national and had entered the Indian territory illegally." Arif was convicted of conspiring with other militants to execute the attack, with the trial court sentencing him to death in October 2005. This decision was subsequently upheld by both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court upon appeal.
The trial court determined that the conspiracy to attack the Red Fort was orchestrated at the residence of two conspirators in Srinagar, where Arif had illegally entered in 1999 with three other LeT militants. The other three militants, identified as Abu Shaad, Abu Bilal, and Abu Haider, who had also infiltrated the monument, were killed in separate encounters.
Arif's legal battle included multiple challenges, with review and curative petitions being rejected, underscoring the gravity of his crime and the threat it posed to national security. The Delhi High Court affirmed the trial court's decision in September 2007, prompting Arif to appeal to the Supreme Court. In August 2011, the apex court upheld the death sentence.
A subsequent review petition was dismissed by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court in August 2012, followed by the rejection of a curative petition in January 2014. Arif then filed a petition arguing that review petitions in death sentence cases should be heard by a bench of three judges and in open court.
In September 2014, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled that all cases where the death sentence was awarded by the high court should be listed before a bench of three judges. Prior to this judgment, review and curative petitions of death row convicts were decided in chamber proceedings by circulation, rather than in open court.
Following this landmark judgment, Arif was entitled to seek the reopening of the dismissal of his review petitions for an open court hearing within one month. In January 2016, a constitution bench directed that Arif could request the reopening of his review petition, which the Supreme Court ultimately rejected on November 3, 2022.
This recent decision by President Murmu follows her earlier rejection of another mercy petition last year in a different case, reflecting a stringent approach to heinous crimes. The rejection of Arif's plea underscores the administration’s firm stance on issues of national security and justice.
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