However, the President took into consideration various facts relating to the case, including the delay in handing over the mercy petitions of the four accused by the state government and the observations made by the National Human Rights Commission.
The NHRC, in its order last year, had said that after an “analysis of the facts and materials placed before the Commission, it emerges that the four convicts in question had submitted their mercy petitions prior to 07.07.2004.
