Mercy petition of Pakistani terrorist in 2000 Red Fort attack case rejected by President

The mercy petition of Mohammed Arif, also known as Ashfaq, a Pakistani terrorist convicted for the 2000 Red Fort attack, has been rejected by President Droupadi Murmu, officials announced on Wednesday.

This marks the second mercy plea rejection by President Murmu since she assumed office on July 25, 2022.

The Supreme Court dismissed Arif's review petition on November 3, 2022, upholding the death penalty previously awarded to him. Despite this, legal experts believe that Arif, a death row convict, could still appeal to the top court for a commutation of his sentence on the grounds of prolonged delay under Article 32 of the Constitution.

Arif's mercy petition, submitted on May 15, was rejected on May 27, according to an order from the President's secretariat dated May 29. The Supreme Court, in its decision to uphold the death sentence, emphasized that there were no mitigating circumstances in Arif's favor, highlighting that the Red Fort attack represented a direct threat to India's unity, integrity, and sovereignty.

The attack, which occurred on December 22, 2000, involved intruders opening fire on the 7 Rajputana Rifles unit stationed at the Red Fort, resulting in the deaths of three Army personnel. Arif, a member of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and a Pakistani national, was arrested by Delhi Police four days after the attack. The Supreme Court's 2022 order stated that Arif had entered Indian territory illegally.

Arif was convicted of conspiring with other militants to carry out the attack, and the trial court sentenced him to death in October 2005. Both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court upheld this decision in subsequent appeals. The trial court determined that the conspiracy was planned at the homes of two conspirators in Srinagar, where Arif had illegally entered in 1999 along with three other LeT militants.

The other three militants involved in the attack — Abu Shaad, Abu Bilal, and Abu Haider — were killed in separate encounters. Despite numerous legal challenges, including review and curative petitions, Arif's plea for mercy was ultimately rejected, underscoring the gravity of his crime and the national security threat it posed.

The Delhi High Court confirmed the trial court's decision in September 2007. Arif then challenged the high court's verdict in the Supreme Court, which also upheld the death sentence in August 2011. His review petition was dismissed by a two-judge bench in August 2012, and a subsequent curative petition was rejected in January 2014.

Arif later filed a petition arguing that review petitions in death sentence cases should be heard by a three-judge bench and in open court. In September 2014, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court ruled that death sentence cases awarded by the high court must be reviewed by a three-judge bench. This ruling allowed Arif to seek a re-opening of his dismissed review petitions for an open court hearing.

In January 2016, another constitution bench directed that Arif could seek re-opening of his review petition dismissal within one month for an open court hearing. Ultimately, the Supreme Court rejected his review petition in its November 3, 2022 verdict.

This decision follows President Murmu's rejection of another mercy petition last year in a separate case.