News P Chidambaram says it’s ‘possible to question SC’s Afzal verdict’, Cong squirms

[Technoglitch]

Chidambaram's reported statement that Afzal's hanging was "perhaps not correctly decided" echoed in Parliament, raised by parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu and finance minister Arun Jaitley.

Naidu said nobody who was given reasonable time, opportunity and finally received a verdict from the highest court of the land had a right to express disaffection towards society. He added that one could not say that the court had decided the case wrongly while being in government. "But an independent person can hold an opinion that the case was not decided correctly," he said.

BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma called it "unfortunate" and an "insult" to martyrs of the Parliament attack and the judiciary. He demanded that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi make it clear if her party was with "traitors" or martyrs.

Sharma added that it was the "height of vote bank politics" that the former home minister of the same government which decided to hang Afzal was now questioning his conviction.

P Chidambaram says it’s ‘possible to question SC’s Afzal verdict’, Cong squirms - Times of India

 

[IndianMascot]

Chidu gone mad now. He seems to desperate joint terror outfits now. Let's declare Congress as Terrorist Organization now

 

[Technoglitch]

On Circumstantial Evidence

Circumstantial evidence against Afzal included the following: he knew the dead terrorists and identified their bodies; he was in frequent telephonic contact with the terrorist Mohammed, including three calls that the latter made to him minutes before the attack; the various locations used by the fidayeen in Delhi before the attacks; the various purchases made by them, including chemicals, dry fruit, a Yamaha motorcycle and mobile phones; and the laptop (along with its contents) that was found in Afzal’s custody.

COURT VIEW: The court said these circumstances clearly established Afzal’s association with the terrorists “in almost every act done by them in order to achieve the objective of attacking the Parliament House”. “Short of participating in the actual attack,” Afzal, the court said, “did everything to set in motion the diabolic mission”. The Verdict “The gravity of the crime… is something which cannot be described in words. The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, had shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender. The challenge to the unity, integrity and sovereignty of India… can only be compensated by giving the maximum punishment… The appellant, who is a surrendered militant and who was bent upon repeating the acts of treason against the nation, is a menace to the society and his life should become extinct. Accordingly, we uphold the death sentence.”

What Supreme Court said when it upheld death for Afzal Guru | The Indian Express