JUDGMENT

SHARMA, J.:— On the basis of a letter received from a prisoner detained in Alipore Central Jail, Calcutta, drawing the attention of this Court to the long wait of Daya Singh, the petitioner convicted for the murder of late Chief Minister of Punjab, Pratap Singh Kairon, lodged at present in Rohtak Jail, Haryana, pending the execution of his death sentence, this case was registered as a writ petition and was listed before us on 27-3-1991. All the relevant facts were not available from the letter but from the Office Report it appeared that the case of the condemned prisoner had earlier come to this Court. We directed the Registry to examine the earlier files and place before us the relevant details. In the meantime we stayed the execution of the death sentence. The learned counsel for the State of Haryana was also informed about the case. As directed, the case was placed before us again on Monday, the Ist April, 199 1, when Ms. Kusum Chaudhary appeared on behalf of State of Haryana and orders were passed for notice to the counsel representing the Union of India. Having heard about the case, the convict Daya Singh engaged his own counsel to represent him and to press this writ