Uttarakhand High Court appoints amicus curiae for murder convict on death row

Nainital, Jul 3 (PTI) The Uttarakhand High Court has appointed an amicus curiae to assist it in reviewing capital punishment awarded to a murder convict by a Haridwar court.

A division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Guhanathan Narendar and Justice Alok Mahra on Wednesday appointed advocate Manisha Bhandari as amicus curiae (friend of the court) and directed her to assist the court in making a decision about the gravity of the crime committed by the convict Haidar Ali and the punishment awarded thereof.

According to the law, capital punishment can be granted for “rarest of the rare crimes” meaning thereby that only the most severe and gruesome crimes attract this provision.

Ali was awarded capital punishment for murdering a woman by sessions judge, Roorkee, Haridwar on June 12. The judgement was then referred to the high court for confirmation.

According to a complaint lodged at Ganganagar police station in Roorkee tehsil by Haridwar resident Dinesh, Ali used to often tease his sister and pressurise her for marriage. When she refused, Ali came to his place along with his friends in his absence one day and chopped her head off. PTI COR ALM ALM DV DV