New Delhi: Under fire from different quarters over the delay in carrying out death sentence of Parliament House attack convict Afzal Guru, government on Tuesday said that the matter had been pending before President Pratibha Patil who will have to take a final call on it.
Asked about the delay, Union Home Secretary R K Singh said the clemency petition of Afzal was pending before the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which has to take a call. “The matter is with the President and it is for the President to decide,” he said.
The home ministry had sent Afzal’s case to the President's Secretariat for a decision on July 27 with the recommendation that his mercy plea be rejected. The Constitution does not give any time limit for the President to decide on clemency plea.
On the occasion of 10th anniversary of Parliament House attack, the daughter of Kamlesh Kumari — a woman constable with the CRPF who was gunned down during the terror strike – expressed her anguish over the delay and demanded that Afzal be hanged at the earliest.
All-India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF) chief M S Bitta, who had escaped several terrorist strikes in the past, said there should be no delay in the execution of Guru. “Don't humiliate us...take back the petrol pumps that were given to us, but hang Afzal Guru.” he said at an event where children of some of the victims were present.
BJP also asked why government was not punishing those held guilty for the attack. “Despite the Supreme Court confirming the sentence, the man (Afzal) is still out there in jail... The nation wants to know, why are we hesitating in punishing those guilty for the Parliament attack,” Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said at a function in Parliament House to pay homage to nine people who lost their lives in the attack.
Admitting that the justice delivery system in the country was slow, law minister Salman Khurshid said: “We want quick justice in all matters. This (Parliament attack) is of course a symbolic and significant event that we cannot easily forget but nevertheless even for such an event there is not much one can do except to hope that our entire system learns to respond in a much faster manner”.
Asked about the delay, Union Home Secretary R K Singh said the clemency petition of Afzal was pending before the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which has to take a call. “The matter is with the President and it is for the President to decide,” he said.
The home ministry had sent Afzal’s case to the President's Secretariat for a decision on July 27 with the recommendation that his mercy plea be rejected. The Constitution does not give any time limit for the President to decide on clemency plea.
On the occasion of 10th anniversary of Parliament House attack, the daughter of Kamlesh Kumari — a woman constable with the CRPF who was gunned down during the terror strike – expressed her anguish over the delay and demanded that Afzal be hanged at the earliest.
All-India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF) chief M S Bitta, who had escaped several terrorist strikes in the past, said there should be no delay in the execution of Guru. “Don't humiliate us...take back the petrol pumps that were given to us, but hang Afzal Guru.” he said at an event where children of some of the victims were present.
BJP also asked why government was not punishing those held guilty for the attack. “Despite the Supreme Court confirming the sentence, the man (Afzal) is still out there in jail... The nation wants to know, why are we hesitating in punishing those guilty for the Parliament attack,” Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said at a function in Parliament House to pay homage to nine people who lost their lives in the attack.
Admitting that the justice delivery system in the country was slow, law minister Salman Khurshid said: “We want quick justice in all matters. This (Parliament attack) is of course a symbolic and significant event that we cannot easily forget but nevertheless even for such an event there is not much one can do except to hope that our entire system learns to respond in a much faster manner”.
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