Union Minister Jayant Sinha on Thursday welcomed eight convicts of Ramgarh lynching case at his residence in Jharkhand with sweets and garlands.
A total of 11 men, including a local Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader, were sentenced to life for beating a man to death on Jun 30 last year on suspicion of illegal cattle trading, NDTV reported.
On June 29, the eight convicts were granted bail from Jharkhand High Court.
A video of the BJP lawmaker greeting these convicts surfaced on Friday after which the Opposition accused BJP of intentionally sparking communal tensions.
President of Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee Ajoy Kumar told News18, “Any kind of support to such elements is deplorable. This is the true color of BJP. They just want to win election and for that their leaders can cross any limit.”
Sinha also received flak from social media users on Friday.
However, he stood by the convicts and took to Twitter on Saturday morning saying he is only “honouring the due process of law”.
I have full faith in our judicial system and the rule of law. Unfortunately, irresponsible statements are being made about my actions when all that I am doing is honoring the due process of law. Those that are innocent will be spared and the guilty will be appropriately punished.
— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) July 7, 2018
Reportedly, this is not the first time that Sinha has openly announced his support for the convicts. Earlier this year, Sinha had questioned the method of investigation in this case and demanded a Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) probe.
“I firmly believe that complete justice has not been done,” Sinha had said.