NEWS

'Dozen conspirators, you are punishing just one'

By Sheela Bhatt
May 07, 2010 00:43 IST

"How can you rejoice when 166 people have died, when there were dozens of conspirators and you are punishing just one man? Asked Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader.
 
Speaking to rediff.com on the 26/11 verdict, Jaitley said, "I want a law that can deal with special cases of terrorism; that can create bigger infrastructure for our investigators." 

On David Headley's links with Kasab's case, the senior leader who is also a lawyer, "Let us wait to see what evidences we get against Headley. I am not aware of the facts of the case. There can be an additional chargesheet in the Kasab's trial."
 
Earlier in the Rajya Sabha , Jaitley said that Kasab's judgment is a national disappointment.

Elaborating to rediff.com, Jaitley told  that the conviction of the prime accused was an obvious matter. When asked if found the Kasab's judgement was fair and balanced, he said, "As far as the Kasab's part is concerned, I think, the trial was fair and quick. There was little option that Judge would have in this kind of case with this kind of evidences. Few accused are there in Pakistan, two in the United States on whom America has already gone soft. Also, the two accused in India has been acquitted. So, the case has already become weak."
 
While talking to a TV channel, Jaitley also said that Kasab's punishment should not take a long time.

Talking about the long queue of pending cases of convicted  who are facing death penalty, he said, "The queue argument is a fake because the queue is a queue created by a government in lethargy and that lethargy of the government is prompted by the fact that there are some people in that queue whom you don't want to convict, whom you don't want to punish with death sentence." 

Sheela Bhatt in Mumbai

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