The Supreme Court has issued notice on a petition by the Centre, which has raised a crucial question: Can a High Court review the President’s decision rejecting mercy petition of a death convict, whose sentence was confirmed by the apex court? A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra issued the notice after the Centre contended that only the SC can entertain such a petition. The matter relates to the June 28, 2017 order of Delhi High Court commuting the death sentence of Sonu Sardar, who was convicted for killing five members of a family in Chhattisgarh in November 2004. Sonu was sentenced to death in 2008 and his death penalty was confirmed by the Supreme Court. His mercy pleas were subsequently rejected by the Chhattisgarh Governor and the President. Sonu moved the Delhi High Court again in 2015 for “quashing the orders of the President and the Governor rejecting his mercy petitions, and to commute the death sentence into life imprisonment on account of delay, improper exercise of power and illegal solitary confinement”. A division bench of HC allowed his plea and commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. Challenging this before SC, the Centre argued, “The question which would arise for consideration is…whether a High Court would have jurisdiction at all to entertain a writ petition under Article 226 to review the decision of the President of India under Article 72….”