Jaising should be 'ashamed'; we aren't as 'large-hearted' as Sonia: Nirbhaya's father
New Delhi: Nirbhaya's father on Saturday said senior lawyer Indira Jaising should be "ashamed" of suggesting pardon for the four death row convicts in his daughter's gangrape case and said his family isn't as "large-hearted" as Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
He also demanded an apology from Jaising, who is known for her stand against capital punishment.
In a tweet on Friday, Jaising said while she fully identifies with the pain of Nirbhaya's mother, she urges her "to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn't not (did not) want the death penalty for her".
"We are with you but against death penalty," she said.
Nalini Sriharan was sentenced to death in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case. Her death penalty was commuted to life term after the intervention of his wife Sonia Gandhi, who urged for clemency on account of the fact that Nalini had a young daughter who was born in jail.
Nirbhaya's father said this is a "wrong message". "She (Indira Jaising) is a woman herself. She should be ashamed of her comments and apologise to Nirbhaya's mother," he told PTI.
"We have been fighting the case for seven years. We are common people and not politicians. Humara dil Sonia Gandhi ji jitna bada nahi hai (We are not as large-hearted as Sonia Gandhi)," he said.
"Such mentality is responsible for the rising number of rapes," he added.
Nirbhaya's father said his wife held similar views. He said they had seen Jaising in court but never interacted with her. "Why did she have to say something and face insult when she has nothing to do with the case," he asked.
On Friday, a Delhi court issued fresh death warrants for February 1 against the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan (25) -- in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.
Earlier in the day, President Ram Nath Kovind had rejected the mercy petition of Mukesh. Nirbhaya's father said he is hopeful of justice finally being delivered.
A 23-year-old paramedic student, who came to be known as Nirbhaya (fearless), was gangraped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, in a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons, including the four death row convicts, before being thrown out on the road.
She succumbed to her injuries a fortnight later at a hospital in Singapore.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
