Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday for his remark alleging a delay in the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Chidambaram's response came after Shah claimed that Afzal Guru’s execution could not be carried out while Chidambaram was the Home Minister, indirectly targeting the Congress party.
Responding to the statement, Chidambaram said, “Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah made a statement in the Rajya Sabha that ‘Afzal Guru could not be executed as long as P. Chidambaram was Home Minister.’ The statement is a mixture of insinuation, lies, and distortion.”
He accused Shah of distorting facts and spreading falsehoods in Parliament.
After the conviction and sentencing by the courts, Afzal Guru’s wife had filed a mercy petition on his behalf to the President of India in October 2006, Chidambaram clarified.
“The President rejected the mercy petition on February 3, 2013, and Afzal Guru was hanged six days later, on February 9, 2013. I served as Home Minister from December 1, 2008, to July 31, 2012,” he stated.
He further added that, as per the Indian Constitution, a death sentence cannot be carried out while a mercy petition is pending before the President.
After the rejection of the mercy petition, Afzal Guru was executed on February 9, 2013, and his body was buried within the premises of Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
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