‘Afzal’s hanging an act of political expediency’

17 February 2013 06:30 pm

he government  on Saturday was accused by some jurists of hanging Afzal Guru on account of political expediency as it was finding itself on the backfoot on issues of national security and law and order.

‘He (Afzal Guru) was hanged not for his role in parliament attack but because the BJP has put the government on the backfoot on the question of national security and crime situation,’ said Yug Mohit Chaudhary, senior counsel at the Bombay High Court.

Delivering the Second Shahid Azmi Memorial Lecture at the Indian Law Institute, Chaudhary wondered why Guru was hanged just before the budget session of parliament quite like Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani terrorist held guilty in the Mumbai terror attack, who was hanged before the winter session of the house. ‘Afzal Guru was hanged on the eve of the budget session of parliament. Same had happened in the case of Kasab’, Yug Mohit Chaudhary said, pointing to the manner in which the government allegedly flouted all statutory provisions in his hanging.

" Same had happened in the case of Kasab’, Yug Mohit Chaudhary said, pointing to the manner in which the government allegedly flouted all statutory provisions in his hanging "

Speaking on the subject ‘Capital Punishment: An Agenda for Abolition’, Chaudhary said there had to be a gap between informing the death convict of the rejection of his mercy petition and actual carrying out of the sentence so that he could exercise the option of seeking any available judicial remedy. Claiming that Guru was not given an opportunity to meet his wife and child and his family too was not informed about the decision to hang him, Chaudhary wondered if we were living in a police state.
He said every person had a right to judicial remedy till his last breadth. He cited instances in the past when just a day before their hanging convicts got reprieves from the top court.
Khaleej Times