OFTEN, YOUNG LAWYERS ASK ME: “How shall we plan our careers?”. I tell them I never planned mine. What you need is to be able to realise the purpose for being a lawyer, and be prepared to do your job. The call can come at any time. Your career will plan itself.
Speaking for myself, I have an abhorrence towards the death penalty and this is the reason why any time there is a knowledge of an impending execution, it puts me on high alert.
On September 7, 2014, there were several news reports circulating about an impending hanging. I also received phone calls from lawyers in Bombay that Surendra Koli was due to be executed the following morning at 5:30 AM.
The case had been in news for some time and had evoked strong sentiments among the general public since it involved allegations of sexual abuse of children whose limbs were found in the drains outside the Noida home of a businessman for whom Surendra Koli was working as a servant. Knowing how public opinion worked, I knew that no one would shed any tears on his execution. For me, however, it was simply a question of commitment to the rule of law.
At that time, a recent judgment of the Supreme Court had held that all review petitions for death penalty cases should be heard by a Bench of three judges in open court. Surendra Koli had not had his day in court and hence it was clear to me that the execution should not go ahead until his lawyers had a chance to file and argue the review petition in open court.
