Parliament case: Afzal to seek clemency

Mohammad Afzal, sentenced to death for helping militants in an attack on the Parliament in 2001, will file a mercy petition to the President APJ Kalam. Afzal's wife has already filed a mercy plea with the president. Afzal's execution, which was slated for October 20, stands deferred until the president takes a decision. Under the Constitution, only the President has the power to commute a death sentence and reduce it to life imprisonment. But only after it is recommended by the Union Cabinet. The death sentence sparked violent protests on the streets of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. Public pressure was such that even Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had to appeal for reconsideration.