Swamy Shraddananda, a convict serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife, has petitioned the Supreme Court to expedite the review of his mercy plea submitted to the President in December 2023. The plea was brought before a bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih this Friday, prompting the court to schedule a hearing for the following week.
Shraddananda, 84, also known by his birth name Murali Manohar Mishra, has been incarcerated for 30 years without a single day’s parole. His legal representative, Advocate Varun Thakur, highlighted the prolonged imprisonment and the absence of temporary release as significant factors in the plea.
The background of the case involves Shraddananda’s marriage in April 1986 to Shakereh, granddaughter of Sir Mirza Ismail, a former dewan of the princely state of Mysore. Shakereh disappeared in May 1991, and the subsequent investigation by the central crime branch in Bengaluru led to Shraddananda’s confession to the murder in 1994.
In his petition, Shraddananda draws parallels to the case of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, noting that the convicts in that case were granted parole and eventually released after 27 years. He argues for a similar consideration under Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution, which allow the President and Governor to grant pardons and commute sentences.
Shraddananda’s legal journey saw him initially sentenced to death by a trial court in 2005, a decision upheld by the Karnataka High Court later that year. His case reached the Supreme Court, where a two-judge bench confirmed his conviction but was divided on the sentencing. This led to a three-judge bench’s 2008 verdict, substituting the death sentence with a directive that he should not be released for the rest of his life.
