Poojary urges government to question stay on death sentence

Poojary urges government to question stay on death sentence

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Aug 30, 2011: Janardhan Poojary, the former union minister, has urged the central government to move the Supreme Court to question the 8-week stay granted by the Madras High Court on the death sentence given to the assassinators of Rajiv Gandhi, the former prime minister.

Speaking at a press conference held in Mangalore on Aug 30 Tuesday, Poojary stated that the Supreme Court had confirmed the death sentence pronounced by the lower courts. However, the Tamil Nadu assembly has passed a unanimous resolution to seek mercy for the accused, owing to which the Madras High Court has granted an 8-week stay on the death sentence.

Accusing the central government of delaying sending the assassins to the gallows, he said that everybody who betrays the country, including Kasab and Afzal Guru, should be hanged without delay.

Poojary pointed out that the accused have lived for 20 more years by simply prolonging court procedures, filing appeals, sending clemency petitions, and so on. Stating that the three should be sent to the gallows immediately, he said the Tamil Nadu assembly has made a mistake by supporting the wrong doers. The resolution passed by the assembly has questioned the decisions of the president and the Supreme Court, he added.

He concluded by requesting the central government to take this issue seriously because the assembly’s move to protect terrorists and betrayers is not in the best interests of the country.

Suresh Ballal, Arun Coelho, Harikrishna Bantwal, and other Congress leaders were also present at the press conference.