M HASAN Vs. GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Writ Petition is filed by the petitioners questioning the order passed by the 2nd respondent herein i.e. The Director General and Inspector General of Prisons and D.C.S., Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, wherein the request of the petitioners to interview the two condemned prisoners, namely, S. Chalapathi Rao and G. Vijaya Vardhana Rao, who were sentenced to death, was turned down.

(2.) The facts, in brief, are as follows :The 1st petitioner is an experienced documentary film maker and a free lance journalist and he made about 200 documentary films on various subjects touching social, historical and technical aspects. The 2nd petitioner is a Free Lance Journalist and he has contributed various articles on various subjects' and he is the publisher and Executive Committee Member of 'Bhoomika'- leading Feminist Journal in Telugu in Andhra Pradesh. The documentary films of the 1st petitioner won number of awards and received number of appreciation certificates. Therefore, the petitioners are entitled to exercise their rights under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India as Free Lance Journalists.

(3.) The petitioners also submit that in the field of Criminal Correctional Services, the debate on the subject of death sentence - whether it should be abolished or not - has gained currency after the Sessions Court and Appellate Courts have imposed and confirmed the death sentences on S. Chalapathi Rao and C. Vijaya Vardhana Rao for a charge under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code in an incident that occurred on 8-3-1983 resulting in the death of 23 passengers travelling in a Road Transport Corporation bus. The death sentences imposed on them was finally confirmed by the Supreme Court and the mercy petitions filed by them were also rejected by the President of India. The Supreme Court of India stayed the execution by an order dated 5-4-1997 on petitions made by the Social Activists and Educationalists like Gnanapeetha Award Winner Mahaswetha Devi and a well-known political thinker-Sri Rajani Kothari.