New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (October 8) rejected a plea of the Union government that sought stricter timelines for death row convicts to avail legal remedies. It also asked for executions to be carried out within seven days after rejection of a mercy petition.After hearing the Union government, a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria said that there was no merit in the application. The court ruled that the 2014 Shatrughan Chauhan judgment, which the Union government wanted modified, was complete in all aspects, reported Hindustan Times.The plea sought for certain modifications to the 2014 judgment. The reasoning it gave was that this was needed to ensure that the framework for death penalty cases factored in the rights and agony of victims, and also addressed the prolonged uncertainty faced by convicts.While refusing to modify the 2014 judgment, the court told additional solicitor general (ASG) K.M. Nataraj who was representing the Union government that it would be at liberty to push for some of the measures it has pressed for in its application in appropriate proceedings.“The government is seeking modifications in the earlier judgment to ensure that the process does not continue endlessly with mercy petitions, review and curative pleas. Victims also suffer when executions are delayed,” ASG Nataraj had earlier told the court on September 24.The top court had ruled in its 2014 judgment pertaining to the case of Shatrughan Chauhan that delays beyond of the convicts’ control qualify as grounds for commuting the death penalty. It had also held that that the pain and suffering brought on by the delay, warrant commutation of sentence to life in prison.The application for modification was moved by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2020 after multiple legal remedies filed by the four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case had delayed their execution.They were subsequently hanged in March 2020 after the Supreme Court, in a midnight sitting, dismissed their last petition.The Union government said in its application that the Shatrughan Chauhan judgment, while safeguarding convicts from inordinate delay, “does not take into account irreparable mental trauma, agony, upheaval and derangement of the victims and their family members,” reported HT.The application added that convicts in heinous crimes such as terrorism, rape and murder “take the judicial process for a ride” under the garb of Article 21 (right to life).In its application, the Centre urged the court to declare that curative petitions must be filed only within a stipulated time after dismissal of a review petition. Additionally, it asked for a clarification that a mercy petition must be filed within seven days of issuance of a death warrant. Finally, the application sought a directive that executions take place within seven days of rejection of a mercy plea, regardless of pending proceedings by co-convicts.