Home Ministry asks President to reject Afzal Guru's mercy petition

New Delhi, Aug 10 (ANI): The Union Home Ministry has reportedly asked President Pratibha Devisingh Patil to reject the mercy petition of Afzal Guru, who was convicted of conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on the Parliament.

"The mercy petition case of death convict Mohd. Afzal Guru has since been submitted to the President's Secretariat on July 27, 2011 for a decision," Minister of State for Home M. Ramachandran informed the Rajya Sabha today, while responding to a question on why the government is not taking steps with regard to expediting Guru's pending mercy petition.

"There is no Constitutional provision. It was an administrative decision to ensure fair and urgent treatment of all cases," he said.

Guru was awarded death sentence by a court in 2002 after being convicted on charges of conspiracy to attack the Parliament, waging war against the country and murder.

The Delhi High Court upheld the death sentence in 2003 and his appeal was further rejected by the Supreme Court two years later.

Following this, Afzal filed a mercy petition with the President, who forwarded it to the Home Ministry for its comments.

A group of gun-and grenade-wielding militants had stormed the Parliament premises in December 2001, but were stopped by security personnel.

The attack led to the death of a dozen people, including six policemen, a civilian and five militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).(ANI)