Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti 'hail' SC decision on Rajiv's killers

Srinagar, Feb 18: With Supreme Court commuting the death sentence of three convicts in

case, Union Minister

and PDP chief

on Tuesday welcomed the apex court's verdict.

The National Conference leader said that the central government had not consulted his party before taking the decision to hang Afzal Guru.

"They never asked us, they did not tell us, they just hanged him...It was absolutely unjustified," he told reporters outside Parliament.

Hailing the Supreme Court judgement commuting the death sentence of three convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, he said, "Governmental delay or otherwise why do you hang them...Death sentences should not be used and life sentence is the right thing. They are doing it all over the civilised world and I think what they have done in India is also following the same convention of the civilised world."

The Supreme Court today commuted the death sentence of three condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to life imprisonment on the ground of 11 years delay in deciding their mercy plea by the Centre.

Afzal Guru deserved the same reprieve: Mehbooba Mufti

Mehbooba Mufti, who heads the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said on Tuesday that Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru deserved the same reprieve that has been given to Rajiv Gandhi assassins.

Speaking to media persons here, Mehbooba Mufti welcomed the apex court's decision to commute the death sentence of Rajiv Gandhi murder convicts to life imprisonment.

"The same should have been done in Afzal Guru's case. Had the same been done in that case, things would have been different in Kashmir today", she said.

OneIndia News

(With agency inputs)