S.SWAPNA Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) On 7/3/1993, two persons, in the course of robbing the passengers of an APSRTC Bus, in Guntur district, had set fire to the bus, resulting in the death of 23 persons, including a six year old girl. These two persons were convicted for offences under Ss. 302, 120-B, 392, 307, 341 and 440 of I.P.C. in S.C.No.662 of 1993, by the III Additional District & Sessions Judge, Guntur. Upon such conviction, and after hearing both sides, on the question of sentence, the III Additional District & Sessions Judge, Guntur, on 7/9/1995, passed a sentence of death on both the persons. The conviction and sentence were affirmed, in R.T. No. 1 of 1995 and Criminal Appeal No. 620 of 1995, by judgment dtd. 2/11/1995, by the erstwhile High Court of Judicature of Andhra Pradesh. The appeal filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, in Crl.A.No.193 of 1996, was dismissed on 30/8/1996. Thereafter, the Hon'ble President of India, in exercise of his powers, under Article 72 of the Constitution of India, commuted the sentence of Death to that of life imprisonment for both these persons. The III Additional District Judge, on 21/5/1998, had issued a consequential warrant of commitment on a sentence of imprisonment for life. The operative part of the warrant reads as follows:

(2.) Both these persons have been in jail since then. The daughter of one of these persons, namely, S. Chalapathi Rao, (hereinafter referred to as the prisoner) has filed this Writ petition seeking release of her father from central prison, Nellore. The case of the petitioner, as set out in the affidavit, is:

(3.) The 3rd respondent filed a counter affidavit, on 27/12/2018. Thereafter, a rejoinder was filed by the writ petitioner. After the filing of the rejoinder, the 3rd respondent again filed an additional counter affidavit, on 26/10/2019.