Ambala: Lodged in the Ambala Central Jail for
the past 19 years, an inmate on death row still waits for his fate to be decided with his mercy petition lying pending for the past 12 years.
Dharmpal, a resident of Sonepat district, was sentenced to death in 1993 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on charge of murdering five persons.
The convict later filed a mercy appeal with the President
that was forwarded by the Home Ministry and subsequently
accepted in September 1999.
The fortune of Dharmpal, however, still hangs in balance
as no decision has been taken over his plea as yet, forcing
him to go through a phase of mental trauma.
After spending around 10 years in the condemned cell,
Dharmpal, DSP Ambala Central Jail Sanjay Bangar recalls, was
shifted to general barrack three years back following Supreme
Court order to shift all death row inmates whose mercy appeals
are pending to the common barracks.
As the debate over death penalty gets regenerated once
again owing to the heated case of Balwant Singh Rajoana,
Dharmpal, whose life kept taking pendulum swings in these
years, is left with no other option but to wait for the clouds
of uncertainty to get cleared.
PTI
