NEW DELHI: Four years after it reached the Delhi government and was put in cold storage, the Afzal Guru file suddenly saw a lot of action on Tuesday. It was moved by the Delhi home department to lieutenant governor Tejendra Khanna's office -- only to be immediately sent back to the department for several "clarifications".

in the file, the city government is required to record its opinion on the merits of the mercy petition filed in 2006 by Guru's wife, urging the President to spare the life of the Parliament attack case convict whose death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Confirming the movement of the file, Ranjan Mukherjee, OSD to the lieutenant governor told TOI: "The file had come today. Within an hour, however, it was sent back to the home department by the L-G asking for some urgent clarifications. We will need those clarifications before the file is cleared from here."

Earlier in the day, the chief minister had made a statement that the file had been sent. While sources in her office said that the city government had sought fast tracking of the hanging order, there were some reports that the government had in fact not taken any call on the issue and left the decision to Tejendra Khanna.

"There were some concerns about the repercussions on the law and order situation in the city if the hanging happens and since that is a matter which is the prerogative of the L-G, he may be the best person to take that call," said a source. The CM's office denied there had been any mention of law and order in the file.
According to the norms, once the L-G clears the file, it will come back to the city home department from where it will go to the Union home ministry.

After the file reached the city government following the mercy petition filed by Guru's wife Tabassum in 2006, there had been no movement till reports appeared about a reminder from the Union home ministry to the city government in the wake of the death sentence given to Ajmal Kasab for the 26/11 Mumbai attack. The CM had denied knowledge of the ministry's letter even as her principal secretary (home) had described it as a "routine reminder" that comes every three months or before a Parliament session.

A day later, the chief minister said: "Letters come and go, neither I nor any other minister drafts replies to them." Meanwhile, sources in the home department say that the city government has since sent a reply to the reminder from the home ministry. "It is the stock reply that we have been sending all this while that the matter is under active consideration," revealed a senior official.

Afzal Guru's hanging has been a major issue for the BJP and the matter has been raised numerous times in both houses of Parliament and the state assembly.

According to senior home officials, of the 48 people currently on death row, Afzal is 22nd in the list.

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