Delhi Govt clears Afzal’s file,sends it to Lt Gov

Delhi Government on Tuesday cleared file on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s mercy petition and sent it to Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna.

Guru was awarded death penalty by a Delhi court for his role in the December 13,2001 attack on Parliament. A decision on his execution is pending as the mercy petition filed by his wife,Tabassum,has not been accepted or rejected by the President. In August 2005,the President sought the MHA’s views. The MHA,in turn,sought the opinion of the Delhi Government as the comments of the government of the state where the crime has been committed are sought before deciding a mercy petition.

Incidentally,just a week before a Mumbai court sentenced Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab to death for the 26/11 attacks,the Union Home Ministry sent a strongly-worded reminder to the Delhi government,asking it to send at the earliest its comments on the mercy petition of Afzal Guru.

However,Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit,who herself is in charge of the Home Department,had said that she was not aware of any letter sent by the Union Home Ministry seeking her government’s comments on the mercy petition.