Also on the list are the mercy petitions of Murugan, Shanthan and Perarivalan who have been convicted for their role in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The death sentence of Murugan's wife, Nalini, was commuted to life-term by former president K.R. Narayanan.

Sikh militant Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar's petition has been pending since 2004. He was given the death sentence for masterminding the attempt on the life of former Youth Congress chief Maninderjit Singh Bitta.

India last carried out a death sentence in 2004 when Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in 1990.

His mercy petition was rejected by former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

While the home ministry maintains that it will review all mercy petitions in chronological order, opinion is divided within the government on fixing time limits for deciding on the petitions.

Some cabinet ministers believe that the death penalty should be replaced with life sentence without parole, maintaining they are an effective replacement for the death penalty.

A total of 135 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice, having realised executions are unacceptable.