Long Delay on Death Row

[This is a shortened version of the letter sent to the Chief Minister of Bihar on 26 October on the Release of Death Row Prisoners, Nanhe Lal Mochi, Veer Kuar Paswan, Krishna Mochi and Dharmender Singh, convicted in the Bara Massacre Case, 1992.]

We, the undersigned appeal for your immediate intervention in ensuring the release of the four death row prisoners languishing in Bhagalpur Jail. Arrested after being accused in the Bara massacre of 1992, Veer Kuar Paswan and Krishna Mochi have already spent over 23 years in jail while Nanhe Lal Mochi has spent 18 and Dharmender Singh 17 years. Their death sentences were awarded in 2001 by the TADA designated court and confirmed by the Supreme Court in April 2002. Yet, their mercy petitions, framed in 2003, were never sent to the requisite authorities for over 10 years.