Jayant Sinha calls meeting lynching convicts ‘honouring due process’
The convicts went from the Hazaribagh jail, out on bail, to the Union Minister’s residence where he garlanded them.
In a series of tweets on Saturday Union Minister Jyant Sinha said that he was “honouring the due process of law” after a row erupted over him felicitating eight men who were earlier convicted for mob lynching.
The eight men were held guilty of killing a meat trader Alimuddin Ansari in the name of cow vigilantism in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand on June 30 last year.
Later, eight people, including a local BJP leader Nityanand Mahto, were arrested and convicted by a trial court in March this year. However, the life sentences of those held guilty were suspended by the Jharkhand high court last week.
On Tuesday, when those men came out of Hazaribagh jail on bail, they met Mr. Sinha at his residence where he garlanded them. Mr. Sinha represents Hazaribagh constituency in Parliament.
Later, a row erupted over Mr Sinha felicitating those eight men convicted for lynching a meat trader. “This is despicable,” tweeted leader of Opposition in Jharkhand assembly and JMM leader Hemant Soren.
Mr. Sinha on Saturday posted a series of tweets saying “though he condemned violence and rejected vigilantism he had misgivings about the trial of the men convicted by a fast-track court.”
“I unequivocally condemn all acts of violence and reject any type of vigilantism. The rule of law is supreme in our constitutional democracy. Any unlawful acts, particularly those that violate the rights of any citizen, should be punished with the full force of the law”, said Mr. Sinha.
He tweeted, “I have repeatedly expressed my misgivings about the Fast-Track Court judgment sentencing each accused to life imprisonment. I am pleased that the Hon'ble High Court will hear the matter as a statutory court of appeal to test the correctness of the Fast-Track Court order.”
He added, “I have full faith in our judicial system and the rule of law. Unfortunately, irresponsible statements are being made about my actions when all that I am doing is honoring the due process of law. Those that are innocent will be spared and the guilty will be appropriately punished.”
The BJP government in Jharkhand had ordered the police to quickly probe the case and sent it to a fast-track court. The court verdict came nine months after the incident.
Courtesy: www.thehindu.com
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
