Hitting back at the BJP for holding it responsible for the delay in hanging of Nirbhaya gang rape case convicts, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said that law and order of national Capital comes under the Centre and the saffron party is lying to mislead the people as they have no issue to raise in upcoming Assembly election.
His statement came after Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday blamed AAP Government's "negligence" for the "delay" in the hanging of Nirbhaya gang rape case convicts, saying it took more than two and a half years for the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation to give notice to convicts after Supreme Court rejected their appeal against the death sentence in 2017.
Terming the statement of Javadekar shocking, Sisodia said the matter is very sensitive and the Minister should avoid making cheap allegation on this issue. "The BJP has no issue to raise in the election so it is making such statement to mislead people. This is a clear attempt to instigate people," he said," adding that If you cannot handle it, give us Delhi Police for just two days, we will hang the convicts of Nirbhaya case.
"I was shocked to see that a Cabinet Minister is lying to the country. It is very sensitive matter and whole the country including the parents of Nirbhaya was waiting for the decision in this case. Delhi Government is in favour of execution of the convicts as soon as possible," he added.
Earlier, refuting the claim of Javadekar, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said it is an "insensitive and uninformative lie" as the law and order is completely under the Centre. "Whatever delay is taking place, the BJP is responsible and that is why instead of misleading people, the Union Minister should apologise for ignoring such a sensitive matter," he said.
The AAP government told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) — the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case — will not be hanged on January 22 as scheduled because one of them has moved a mercy plea and according to the prison rules, they cannot be executed till they exhaust all of their remedies under the law.
The four rapists were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail. A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7.
