More than a year after the President sought the Government’s views on Afzal’s clemency petition on his death sentence for the Parliament attack—a matter that has become an election issue in Gujarat—the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) now intends to send a fresh reminder asking the Delhi Government for its opinion on the case.

The ministry, which had forwarded the petition to the Delhi Government in October last year, will soon be sending another reminder since a new chief secretary has taken over, a senior official said. Ministry sources, however, pointed out that the Constitution did not have any time limitation when it comes to the President deciding on such petitions. “So even we can’t set a deadline for the Delhi Government,” an official said.

Afzal’s wife Tabassum filed the clemency petition with then President A P J Abdul Kalam on October 3, 2006. The President’s office forwarded the plea to the MHA the same day, since the President acts on the advice of the Union Cabinet in the case of a mercy petition. Tihar Jail, where Afzal was to have been hanged on October 20, was informed that the sentence would have to be kept in abeyance till a decision on his mercy petition.

The MHA took up the matter with the Delhi Government, asking for its views since the crime took place in Delhi. The ministry has been waiting for a response since. “We have taken up the matter several times. The ministry has to get Delhi Government’s recommendation on Afzal before it can submit its advice to the President,” an official said.

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