A week after he felicitated eight convicted cow vigilantes in Jharkhand, Union minister Jayant Sinha expressed regret on Wednesday.
“I have earlier also said that law will take its own course. Guilty will be punished and innocent will be spared. If by garlanding then (Ramgarh lynching case convicts) an impression has gone out that I support such vigilantism then I express regret,” news agency ANI quoted Sinha has saying.
Sinha had triggered a controversy last week after he felicitated eight convicts in the Ramgharh lynching case after they were released on bail.
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Jayant Sinha's act received strong criticism not only from the Opposition, but also from his father and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha.
"Earlier, I was the Nalayak Baap of a Layak Beta. Now the roles are reversed. That is twitter. I do not approve of my son's action. But I know even this will lead to further abuse. You can never win," Yashwant Sinha earlier tweeted.
On Tuesday a petition was also started on Change.org which demanded removal of Jayant Sinha's Harvard Business School alumni status.
The petition was also supported by Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Twitter.
"If the sight of a highly educated MP and Central Minister, Jayant Sinha, garlanding and honouring criminals convicted of lynching an innocent man, fills you with disgust, click on the link and support this petition," Rahul Gandhi tweeted alongside a link to the site
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On June 29 last year, meat trader Alimuddin Ansari was beaten to death by a mob in Bazaar Tand area under Ramgarh police station on suspicion that he was carrying beef in his car.
On March 21, a fast-track court sentenced the 11 convicts in the Ramgarh lynching case to life imprisonment.
Eight of the 11 convicts were granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court on June 29. Two are in Hazaribag Central Jail and a juvenile is in a correction home.
After walking out of the Jai Prakash Narain Central Jail, the released men headed straight to the residence of Sinha, where the minister garlanded them. The convicts were led by local BJP leader Amardeep Yadav, who is also the OBC Morcha president of the party,
