Even as the government claimed that the release order of Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi was as per law, the UP Congress and the sister of slain poetess Madhumita Shukla condemned the government action.
Defending the decision to release Amarmani and Madhumani, Jail Minister Dharamveer Prajapati said that the action was taken on the basis of the decision of the chief minister and the governor of Uttar Pradesh.
Prajapati said, “In jails, files are processed on the basis of work and on the basis of the behaviour (of prisoners) and on the basis of policies. Further decisions are taken on the basis of the decision taken only after the instructions of the honorable chief minister and the governor.”
When the minister was asked about the opposition by Madhumita’s sister, he said, “We cannot point fingers at the discretion of the governor. Whatever files go to her from here, the governor studies them well and has discretion on them. She makes a complete decision. Whatever her decision is, it is acceptable to us. She doesn’t take such a decision on any matter, her team does a complete study first. Only after that she makes a decision.”
Madhumita Shukla’s sister Nidhi Shukla has expressed surprise and opposed this decision of the government. She released a video in which she said, “We have filed a petition against Amarmani in the Supreme Court. The hearing is on August 25, that is today, then how has this order been passed? I pray that until there is no order from the Supreme Court, this release should be banned.”
She also apprehended threats to her and family members if Tripathi was released.
The Supreme Court, however, refused to stay the proceedings and issued notice to the state government asking it to submit a reply on the issue within two weeks. The apex court said that if they were not convinced with the release, they would issue orders to arrest both again.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai also attacked the Yogi Adityanath government over the release order claiming that the truth behind the much publicised slogan ‘Beti Bachao, Bêti Pahadao’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party was once again exposed.
“Whether it was the case of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, former BJP Union minister Swami Chinmayananda, and now Amarmani Tripathi, a minister in the Kalyan Singh government, the BJP leaders went all out to give them clean chit or to set them free even when all were involved in sexual harassment and even murder cases,” Rai alleged, adding that both Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath had a “washing machine” in which they could clean all the charges of criminals and goons once they joined BJP or supported it.