Afzal’s file goes back and forth

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BJP supporters brave water cannon being used by the police during a demonstration against the delay in the hanging of Afzal Guru

A day after the 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal guru’s mercy plea file moved from chief minister Sheila Dikshit to the lieutenant governor, and again back to her, the file finally came back to the Raj Niwas again on Wednesday with minor clarification. While Ms Dikshit has reportedly noted that the “Delhi government is in agreement

with the Supreme Court verdict”, the lieutenant governor is likely to send the file along with his comments directly to the Union home ministry.
“The lieutenant governor will be carefully studying the mercy petition file of Afzal Guru and will send his reply at the earliest,” stated Mr Ranjan Mukherjee, officer on special duty at Raj Niwas.
The home department of the Delhi government on Wednesday maintained that the mercy petition file has again been sent to the lieutenant governor, along with the explanation sought by the Raj Niwas.
“The chief minister has stated in her comment that the Delhi government is in agreement with the Supreme Court awarding death sentence to Afzal Guru without any rider,” stated a senior home department official of the Delhi government.
However, sources said that the Delhi government had sent a letter of the former chief secretary along with file, which reportedly expressed concerns on the law and order implications in the events of the execution of Afzal Guru.
The lieutenant governor had, however, returned the file back to the Delhi government on the ground that there was no comment on the merits of the mercy petition plea, sources said. However, sources close to the issue maintained that the “Delhi government had done superficial work on looking into the issue of the merits of the mercy petition plea”.
Meanwhile, Ms Dikshit, while refusing to answer any query of the media on the issue, stated, “I am going to clarify on the entire issue on Saturday.”
Senior Delhi government officials also rejected the contention in some quarter that Afzal Guru’s execution will take place once his number comes in the long queue.