The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday send a letter to the President Pratibha Patil recommending a death penalty to the 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Sources said that the Home Ministry has upheld the recomendaions of the Delhi Lieutenant Governor who favoured death penalty for Guru. The ministry has sent a 8-10 page note with recommendations to the President that includes the trial court, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court orders as well as the Delhi Lieutenant Governor's report. Minister of State for Home Ramachandran informed the Rajya Sabha that the Home Ministry had submitted Afzal Guru's case to the President 's Secretariat for a final decision. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been demanding that Guru be hanged and welcomed the rejection of his mercy petition.The BJP leader Balbir Punj said that the death penalty is to be executed as soon as possible and hoped that there are no other problems. He also added that under their system, the President is bound by the opinon of the Cabinet and he does not have much choice. The BJP leader Prakash Javadekar requested the President to accept and give decision before Independence Day, so that it can curb terrorism. And de added that the people are eager to see that Afzal Guru is put to gallows as soon as possible. The Congress claimed that the BJP was unnecessarily trying to gain political mileage out of Parliament attack case. The Congress leader Rashid Alvi said The Home Ministry has given the opinion that Afzal Guru be hanged and said that the BJP was unnecessarily trying to take political mileage on this. The President of India will decide now. Guru was convicted of conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on Parliament and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in 2004. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on October 20, 2006.
However, Guru's execution was stayed followed by a mercy petition filed by his wife. He has been on the death row for nearly a decade.
News Reported by AR
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