Updated On: 21 January, 2014 01:27 PM IST | | Agencies
<p>In a landmark verdict that can come as a relief to many death row convicts, the Supreme Court today held that death sentence of a condemned prisoner can be commuted to life imprisonment on the ground of delay on the part of the government in deciding the mercy plea.</p>

New Delhi: Giving life term to 15 death row inmates, including four aides of forest brigand Veerappan, the apex court also ruled that a death convict suffering from mental insanity and schizophrenia cannot be hanged.

The Supreme Court Of India. File pic