Lazy -or- skirting responsibility??

Relevant news article: Hanging Kasab may take years

While most of India celebrates that justice has been done by awarding Kasab the death sentence, some feel that hanging him to death wouldn't be a tough-enough punishment. I too agree with the latter group.

However, what I want to discuss here, is the time it will elapse before Kasab actually gets hanged.

Apparently, once a trial court sentences a convict to the gallows, it needs to be approved by a high court, then the supreme court and then the President. This process can supposedly take decades (that's right, plural!!) to complete.

I say approved, because I am pretty sure anyone who faces the gallows will go on to appeal until all his options run out. Even if the convict doesn't want to, I think the lawyers would pressure him into doing so. Imagine in this case, that Kasab gives up hope of wanting to live and decides not to appeal and go to the gallows; do you think his lawyers will allow him to?? Answer is NO. If the lawyer manages to score a pardon, no matter how slim or non-existent the chance may be, he would top any other lawyers list of achievements in an instant. So we can expect this case to go through all the three appeals that lie ahead of the fast track court.

According to TOI, there are 51, that's right, FIFTY ONE convicts in QUEUE to be hanged to death!! It is alarming that the judicial system is so slow in India. 51 people have been condemned to die, and yet they continue to live, and we the people pay for their upkeep through our tax money.

Let me not even get into the details of money matters with regards to Kasab's maintenance. 34 crore rupees have been spent for his security so far. Let me just leave it at that.

Right now, there are 25 mercy petition cases in front of the President. Some of the petitions are from sentences in the 1990's. The blog title applies to the President of our nation.

Is s/he just lazy?? Or is s/he skirting his/her responsibility towards the country??

I understand that when you see it from a broader view, one man or woman now has the power over controlling the life of 25 people on their fingertips. It is a great responsibility and requires great courage to make the decisions.

But as it seems, that Presidents have come and gone, but none have decided to act upon these cases. It shows a great flaw in their morality, the fact that they are representing the nation and yet, they are unable to stand up for whats right. If they cannot make tough decisions, they do not deserve to lead our nation.

I request our President, Smt. Pratibha Patil, to kindly take up the responsibility towards the office she holds, and go through the 25 petitions accumulating dust in her cupboard, and award them the punishment they deserve. How tough is it to decide, when all evidence, facts, opinions and everything related to the case are at your disposal within the file??