Hanging of Afzal Guru was 'absolutely unjustified': Abdullah

With Supreme Court commuting the death sentence of three convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah today said the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was "absolutely unjustified".

The National Conference leader said that the central government had not consulted his party before taking the decision to hang Guru.

"They never asked us, they did not tell us, they just hanged him...It was absolutely unjustified," he told reporters outside Parliament.

Hailing the Supreme Court judgement commuting the death sentence of three convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, he said, "Governmental delay or otherwise why do you hang them...Death sentences should not be used and life sentence is the right thing. They are doing it all over the civilised world and I think what they have done in India is also following the same convention of the civilised world."

The Supreme Court today commuted the death sentence of three condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to life imprisonment on the ground of 11 years delay in deciding their mercy plea by the Centre.