Supreme Court stays execution of couple

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of a couple from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, who were awarded death penalty for killing seven members of the woman's family, including a 10-month-old child, in 2008.

Hearing urgent plea against the death warrant issued on May 21, a vacation bench of Justices A K Sikri and U U Lalit sought a response from the Centre as well as Uttar Pradesh government and put the matter for hearing on Wednesday.

The Apex court had on May 15 described parricide as the “most terrible inversion of brute instinct” while sentencing Shabnam, a teacher, and her lover Salim to capital punishment. Shabnam is mother of seven-year-old son.

Senior advocates Anand Grover and Raju Ramachandran contended that there were serious infirmities in the verdict by the Apex court. They represented Shabnam and the National Law University (Death Penalty Litigation Clinic) respectively, which challenged Constitutional validity of death warrants issued by the Amroha court.