Lawyer behind Kasab's mercy plea now seeks mercy for Jadhav
Bombay High Court senior lawyer Yug Chaudhry has written a petition addressed to the President of Pakistan seeking mercy for former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been awarded death sentence for allegedly spying. Chaudhry filed a similar petition in October 2012 seeking mercy for Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab who was awarded capital punishment by various courts of India.
Bombay High Court senior lawyer Yug Chaudhry has written a petition addressed to the President of Pakistan seeking mercy for former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been awarded capital punishment by a military court of the country. Chaudhry is known for taking up cases where the neglected people from lower strata of the society have been victims of law enforcement agencies or government apathy.This is not the first mercy petition filed by Chaudhry. In October 2012, he filed a similar petition seeking mercy for Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab who was awarded capital punishment by various courts of India. There were around 202 signatories who signed the petition which was then addressed to President of India. Chaudhry has once again appealed to the same signatories and some others to join him in seeking mercy for Jadhav.In the petition he says, "We, the undersigned citizens of India, had hitherto by our petition dated 28th October 2012, pleaded with the President of India for granting mercy to Md. Ajmal Kasab, a citizen of Pakistan sentenced to death by the Indian courts for his role in the 26/11 attacks on the city of Mumbai. We now appeal to you, Your Excellency, to exercise your power of clemency in favour of an Indian citizen, Kulbhushan Jadhav, and to spare his life." The petition further reads, "We believe that it is wrong and immoral to kill a human being by way of revenge or punishment. Executing Kulbhushan Jadhav in the name of the citizens of Pakistan will only feed a base blood lust that will make our people more blood-thirsty, vengeful and violent.""We believe that all of us - the best and the worst - are in need of mercy, and it is only by showing mercy that, morally, we ourselves become entitled to receiving it. Bereft of mercy, society becomes impoverished and inhuman. If we have to become a more humane and compassionate society, and leave a better, and less blood-thirsty world behind for our children, we have to curb our instinct for bloody retribution and abandon the practice of killing those who have hurt us" says Chaudhry in the petition seeking clemency for Jadhav. The petition finally concludes saying, "In a country whose people believe in the Koran which exalts compassion as the foremost virtue, let it not be said that there is no place left in people's hearts for mercy or that the national conscience can only be satisfied by the killing of Kulbhushan Jadhav".The signatories who had earlier signed the petition include prominent journalists and social workers from Mumbai and other parts of the country.Also Read:Kulbhushan Jadhav, not the first Indian to be tried and condemned to death by Pakistan 