The Supreme Court of India has taken up the question that if there is inordinate delay in disposing mercy petition before the president then the death sentence can be commuted to life imprisonment. This becomes very importance at this time when the mercy petition of Afsal Guru who was convicted for the parliamentary attacks in 2006 is still pending before the president. So it will be interesting to see what is court’s stand on the issue and would serve as a strong precedent for Afsal Guru’s case. Earlier the petitioners have said that they have spent more than a decade in solitary confinement waiting for the decision from the president which never came and has pleaded before the court that their death penalty must be commuted to life imprisonment.