NCP supports Patil on Afzal issue

Lucknow, Dec 14 (UNI) The Nationalist Congress Party today supported Union Home minister Shivraj Patil on the issue on of legal procedures delaying a decision on the hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohd Afzal Guru.

Talking to reporters here, NCP national general secretary Tariq Anwar said the Home minister was right in pointing that Guru could not be hanged till his mercy plea was pending before the President.

''The government was not delaying his hanging...since there are constitutional and legal procedures involved, the final decision could take time.

The Opposition created uproarious scenes in Parliament yesterday demanding death penalty to the Parliament attack convict be carried out.

But the Home Minister insisted that his clemency petition was pending and the law would take its own course.

The Opposition refused to hear the Home Minister's contention that since the clemency petition of Afzal was pending with President and the process takes a long time, no immediate decision on the issue could be taken.

Afzal had approached the Supreme Court yesterday by way of curative petition, seeking to set aside the Court judgement dated August 4, 2005, upholding the death sentence awarded to him by the trial court.

The main ground for challenging the Supreme Court judgement taken by the petitioner is that he was not provided with the counsel of his choice at the state expenses and hence, the trial, the conviction and the sentence awarded to him stand vitiated.

Afzal has also appealed to the apex court to stay the death sentence awarded to him till the final disposal of his curative petition.

UNI NAB VD ND1756