Governor's order set aside
Longowal case cited for clemency
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 25 — The clemency granted to the killer of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal has been cited in a petition to the President of India by a senior lawyer, seeking commutation of the death sentence for the killers of Rajiv Gandhi.

The petition has been moved even as the Madras High Court today quashed Tamil Nadu Governor M. Fathima Beevi's order rejecting the clemency petitions of the four convicts — Nalini, Murugan, Perarivalan and Santhan.

The Governor, who was a former Judge of the Supreme Court, had not followed the laid down guidelines where the President or a Governor of a state did not take decisions on their own but on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

A report from Chennai said that the high court held that "It is for the Governor to pass fresh orders on mercy petitions from the condemned prisoners after getting the advice of the Council of Ministers".

Moving a clemency petition to the President, in the backdrop of similar pleas from the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and a host of prominent Tamil Nadu leaders, a senior advocate, Dr B.L. Wadhera, argued that there was a substantial element of similarity in the case of Gian Singh, who was convicted in the Longowal case, and in the case of Nalini and others, convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Dr Wadhera, who argued the appeal for Gian Singh in the Supreme Court on September 9, this year, and whose death sentence was converted into life imprisonment, appealed to the President to invoke the extraordinary and exclusive powers vested in him under Article 72 (1) of the Constitution of India under which he could grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any persons convicted of any offence.

Even as Dr Wadhera's petition is under consideration of the President, the Union Home Ministry said in a statement here today that it would give its opinion shortly to the President on the clemency petitions. It clarified that the four convicts had, however, not petitioned the President so far for clemency.

Mr Narayanan has sought the ministry's advice on the mercy petitions for the four condemned prisoners received from several people, including Mrs Sonia Gandhi.

The ministry said it had already postponed the date of their execution till the mercy petitions received on their behalf were finally disposed off.

Dr Wadhera, pointing out the similarities in the cases of Rajiv Gandhi and Longowal, said both of them were political leaders.

Longowal was murdered as he finished addressing a public meeting justifying the Punjab Accord while Rajiv Gandhi was killed when he was about to address a public meeting seeking votes for his party.

Sant Longowal was perceived by a sizeable part of Sikh community as "traitor" of the community after he signed the Punjab Accord as they considered the award as a sell-off in so far as interests of the Sikh community, in particular, were involved, Mr Wadhera said.

In the case of Rajiv Gandhi too, he was considered by a section of Tamilians in Sri Lanka and their sympathisers in India as a "traitor" to the cause of Tamils because of his sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka, he claimed.

Dr Wadhera argued that the killers in both cases had nothing personal against either Longowal or Rajiv Gandhi and in both cases the murder was pre-planned. However, he said there was nothing diabolical, gruesome or atrocious, shocking the conscience of the society in the manner of commission of the crime.

Quoting several other similarities, Dr Wadhera said that in both cases the perpetrators of the crime intensely believed that they were doing their religious or political duty to eliminate the person whom they and their fellow community brethren hated.

He cited the Supreme Court's ruling in Gian Singh's case where it held that it was not one of the rarest of rare category of murder cases. Gian Singh's death sentence therefore, was converted to that of life imprisonment.

Dr Wadhera argued that even though Longowal was a regional leader and Rajiv Gandhi a national leader, in terms of the guidelines evolved by the Supreme Court the status or stature of the victim could not be the sole guiding factor for exercise of the choice of sentence in favour of death sentence.

"Value of life of every citizen is alike in the eye of law. Loss of life of a national leader in similar circumstances in which a state or regional leader lost his life, cannot be given different price tags", Dr Wadhera contended.

‘Wounded’ Kalyan attacks Vajpayee

NEW DELHI, Nov 25 (PTI) — Ousted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today launched a frontal attack on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and declared his next political move was "in the final stages" of making even as Mr Vajpayee sought to smoothen Mr Kalyan Singh's ruffled feathers.

In the strongest-ever criticism of Mr Vajpayee since his removal as Chief Minister nearly two weeks ago, Mr Kalyan Singh said "it is because of him (Vajpayee) that I have been deprived of the Chief Ministership" and declared "as long as he is the PM, I will not occupy any post in the party."

Referring to his removal from the Chief Ministership by the BJP central leadership, he told a reception in his hometown Aligarh that "even the killer of Mahatma Gandhi was given an opportunity to speak out in his defence, but Vajpayee has deprived me even of this opportunity".

"Those who are responsible for BJP's defeat (in UP) are occupying posts in Lucknow and Delhi and I have been hanged without a fair trial", he said, adding "I am no longer prepared to suffer humiliation silently".

Mr Vajpayee told reporters in Lucknow that no individual should be held responsible for BJP's electoral reverses in UP.

Declaring that he was "in the final stages" of making his next political move, Mr Kalyan Singh said "those who want to come with me will have to tread a very rocky path ahead. They be ready to burn their houses before they are ready to follow me".

He said the BJP had "lost ground" not only in UP but in most other parts of the country because the party "abandoned its basic policies like the Ram temple, abrogation of Article 370 and the common civil code and not because of my performance in the state."

Differing with Mr Kalyan Singh's perception, Mr Vajpayee said putting the three controversial issues on the backburner was not responsible for BJP's poll reverses in UP.

He pointed out that the BJP had won 57 Lok Sabha seats in UP in 1998 elections even though the three issues were not part of the party's agenda at that time.

TNS adds: Prime Minster Atal Behari Vajpayee's first visit to his Lok Sabha constituency, Lucknow, since the results were declared in October turned out to be an occasion for him to reinforce his leadership within the National Democratic Alliance.

Having channelise support for him within the NDA in central politics, Mr Vajpayee today helped his personal choice as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Ram Prakash Gupta, to tide over his teething troubles.

The allies of the BJP in Lucknow had been holding Mr Gupta to ransom by not letting their nominees as ministers take up their assignments in the state secretariat. Mr Vajpayee's first task in Lucknow, therefore, was to iron out the creases in the fabric of the ruling alliance.

The allies relented. All ministers of the Gupta Cabinet reported for work for the first time today. A lunch hosted by the Chief Minister in Mr Vajpayee's honour became the occasion for all ministers to get together and present a united face of the BJP-led government in the largest state of India.

In his brief speech at the luncheon, Mr Vajpayee referred to his party's dismal performance in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections and said things had to improve.

With this, he has set in motion the process of consolidating his party in his home state. Viewed in the national perspective, this was a major task for him prior to the winter session of Parliament.

Having inducted the Uttar Pradesh party chief, Mr Raj Nath Singh, into the Union Cabinet, the BJP leadership has now to choose his successor. The state unit is suffering from malignant factionalism. Deposed Chief Minster Kalyan Singh chose to stay away from Lucknow today. The choice of the new state president, therefore, is not an easy one. However, having soothed the ruffled feathers of its allies, the party can now start attending to its internal problems.