‘Home ministry to take final call on Afzal Guru’s plea’

NEW DELHI - Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Friday said the final decision on parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s mercy petition rests with the central home ministry.

She said the Delhi government has made its position clear on the matter in the file, which was sent back to Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna Wednesday. In its reply, the Delhi government has not opposed Guru’s death sentence but expressed concerns of law and order if he is executed.

“We have sent the file on mercy petition of Afzal Guru to the lieutenant governor. The final decision rests with the home ministry,” Dikshit told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

The file will be sent to the home ministry after getting clearance from Khanna’s office.

As per the laid down procedure, the president sought the home ministry’s views on the mercy petition of Guru in 2005.

The procedure on mercy petition also requires the home ministry to seek comments of the state government in whose jurisdiction the crime, for which the death penalty is awarded to the convict, has been committed.

Guru, a resident of Sopore in the Kashmir Valley, was found guilty of plotting the Dec 13, 2001, parliament attack and was sentenced to death by a trial court in December 2002. The Delhi High Court confirmed the death penalty in October 2003.

The Supreme Court had also upheld the capital punishment given to Guru for his role in the terror attack. Guru’s wife, Tabassum, filed a mercy petition to the president after the apex court’s verdict.