New Delhi: An Indian Judge, who handed down death penalty to Afzal Guru, accused of plotting the December 13, 2001 attack on Indian Parliament, has harshly criticised federal government for the delay in carrying out the punishment.
Talking to the Hindustan Times, Justice Shiv Narayan Dhingra of the Delhi High Court, said the “delay of so many years on the part of the Centre to hang him even after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence is inexplicable”.
“The Centre, which blames the judiciary for pendency and backlogs of millions of cases, is struggling with just a few mercy petitions for so many years,” said the judge, who heard the Parliament attack case.
Guru’s appeal against death sentenced was rejected by the Supreme Court in Jan 2006
A convict on death row can seek mercy from the president, who acts on the cabinet’s advice to arrive at a decision. The plea is processed by the home ministry.
However, Rajya Sabha on February 23, home minister P Chidambaram had said Guru’s plea had not been forwarded to President Pratibha Patil.
The government has been under fire from the opposition for “going slow” on Afzal’s plea. “The Centre and the President never had the occasion, reason or mandate by any procedure to go into the specifics. They just needed to take a view on what basis the courts had come to a conclusion on the punishment for the crime committed,” he said.
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