Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, who has aired strong opinions about the JNU incident, lambasted former Supreme Court (SC) Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly after he raised doubts over the SC verdict which sentenced Afzal Guru to death.
Kher was participating in the Telegraph National Debate in Kolkata earlier this week. The actor, who was recently conferred with the Padma Bhushan, criticized the former judge saying that it was wrong of him to find fault with the SC verdict on Afzal Guru.
Image Courtesy: Hindu Business Line
“I am shocked and ashamed and saddened by what you said, Mr Ganguly,” Kher said. “It’s so sad that you’re calling the verdict of the SC wrong, being a judge yourself. It’s a matter of complete disgrace that you were hounded by the press and you were intolerant of them when there was a case against you. And today, you say what happened at JNU was right. It’s absolutely unpardonable that instead of condemning the protests taking place at JNU, you are saying the SC was wrong,” said a furious Kher.
The former judge had opined that Afzal’s right to challenge the rejection of his clemency petition was not fulfilled.
“I am saying as a (former) judge the way the execution took place – his clemency petition was rejected on February 3 and the execution took place on February 9. This is wrong. He had the right to challenge it. Family members have the right to be informed about it. The human right is there as long as the noose is not tightened around the neck,” Ganguly was quoted by PTI.
Ganguly had earlier been accused of sexually harassing a law intern after she disclosed the matter.
In the debate titled ‘Tolerance is the intolerance’, columnist and socialite Shuel Seth, actor Kajol and Anupam Kher spoke for the motion and justice Ganguly, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and journalist Burkha Dutt spoke against it.
A visibly angry Kher then went on to roast Congress bringing up the intolerance debate used by the party to campaign against prime minister Narendra Modi.
“You forgot that 84′ emergency was declared by Indira Gandhi, your leader. That was the biggest intolerance in the country, ever . . . everyone was put behind bars,” Kher said as he turned to Surjewala.
