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DMK president M. Karunanidhi
Renewing
his demand for abolishing death penalty, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi on
Saturday made a fresh pitch for a state cabinet meeting to adopt a
resolution recommending commutation of the death sentence awarded to
three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
“Our stand
is that capital punishment should be abolished and should be taken off
the law book,” Mr. Karunanidhi said, recalling his remarks that the
death sentence of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan should be commuted
on humanitarian grounds.
“If the
state government has to approach the problem truly, it should not just
stop after adopting resolutions in the Assembly, but pass a resolution
in a cabinet meeting and send it to the Governor,” the DMK patriarch
said.
His
statement comes a day after the Supreme Court dismissed death row
convict and Khalistani terrorist Devinderpal Singh Bhullar’s plea for
commutation of his death sentence in a judgement that can have a
bearing on the fate of over 20 convicts facing execution, including
those held guilty in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.
On the apex
court’s observation that commutation of death sentence to accused
cannot be done in the case of terrorists or those involved in mass
killings on the ground of delay in deciding their mercy plea, Mr.
Karunanidhi said in a statement “it has come as a very big shock to
many expecting the verdict as well as our thinking.”
Mr.
Karunanidhi cited the example of Thyagu, whose death sentence, he said,
was commuted during his government’s tenure. “When we see that Thyagu
has now become a writer and essayist, is publishing books and has
become a respectable man in society, we should give a life to Murugan,
Santhan and Perarivalan and should use them for society,” he said.
The DMK chief has been repeatedly pressing for abolition of capital punishment.
His earlier
comments in this regard came against the backdrop of the hanging of
26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack
accused Afzal Guru which triggered a fresh debate on the death penalty
issue.
He had also
virtually backed the demand for a CBI probe into the 1993 Palar
landmine blast case in which four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan
are facing the gallows.
The four
got a temporary relief in February this year with the apex court
staying their execution on their plea seeking commutation of the
sentence citing delay of eight years in disposal of their mercy
petition by the President.
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Sunday, April 14, 2013
#Karunanidhi reiterates # demand for abolishing death penalty#
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