Fact check: Did Akhilesh Yadav sign mercy plea for commutation of Ajmal Kasab's death sentence?
A Twitter post claiming that Akhilesh Yadav was among 203 people who signed the petition for the commutation of Ajmal Kasab’s death sentence, is going viral on social media.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 15 Dec 2021 6:00 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A Twitter post claiming that Akhilesh Yadav was among 203 people who signed the petition for the commutation of Ajmal Kasab's death sentence, is going viral on social media.
The post is shared in Hindi that reads, "कसाब की फांसी को रुकवाने के लिए जिन 302 लोगो ने याचिका पर साईन किए थे उनमें से एक ये अखिलेश यादव भी एक थे, सोचा आप भूल गए होंगे याद दिला देते है"
"Akhilesh Yadav was among the list of 203 people who signed the petition for the commutation of Ajmal Kasab," reads the English translation of the post.
Click here to view the archived post.
NewsMeter also received a similar post on WhatsApp.
Fact Check:
NewsMeter found the claim to be false.
A relevant keyword search on the claim led the team to an article published by the Indian Express on November 21, 2012. According to the article, more than 203 people signed a petition which sought to pardon Ajmal Kasab's death sentence. This petition was sent to then-president Pranab Mukherjee who rejected the clemency petition.
The article also mentions prominent voices such as the United Nations, senior lawyer Collin Gonsalves, writers Mahasveta Devi, and Naresh Fernandes and actors Nandita Das and Aamir Bashir, etc. as the signatories of the petition.
We also found a PDF copy of the petition on www.pdfcoffee.com. The petition has been uploaded by Anand Gupta on www.pdfcoffee.com. The plea has a list of each signatory's name with their contact details. Among those details, is the contact of Yug Mohit Chaudhry, the lawyer who filed the petition, and also spearheads the movement for the abolition of the death penalty in India.
Newschecker- a fact-checking website contacted Yug Mohit Chaudhry, who refuted the claim.
Hence, the claim is false. Akhilesh Yadav was not among 203 petitioners for the commutation of Ajmal Kasab's death sentence.
