The CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and Politburo member Kavita Krishnan joined eminent jurists, activists and citizens in sending a mercy petition to the President of India against Yakub Memon’s death sentence.
The petition, while seeking commutation of Yakub Memon’s death sentence and pointing out various lacunae in the justice system and mitigating factors as grounds for mercy, also made a strong case for abolition of the death penalty in India, in keeping with the international commitment to abolish the death penalty.
The 200 signatories to the petition, along with Comrades Dipankar Bhattacharya and Kavita Krishnan, include CPI(M) GS Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader and MP D. Raja, CPI(M) Politburo members Prakash Karat and Brinda Karat, Justice Panachand Jain (Retd), Justice H.S. Bedi (Retd), Justice P. B. Sawant (Retd), Justice H. Suresh (Retd), Justice K. P. Siva Subramaniam (Retd), Justice S. N. Bhargava (Retd), Justice K Chandru (Retd), Justice Nagmohan Das (Retd), Prashant Bhushan, Shatrughan Sinha MP, Mani Shankar Aiyer, MP, Ram Jethmalani, MP, Majeed Memon, MP, K.T.S Tulsi, MP, several academicians, lawyers, activists, filmmakers and actors including Naseeruddin Shah and Mahesh Bhatt.
