NEW DELHI: Union minister
Jayant Sinha
on Wednesday took a U-turn from his earlier stand and expressed regret over his recent act of garlanding eight people convicted for lynching a man to death.
“I’ve said many times that the matter is still sub-judice. It won’t be fair to talk on this. Law will take its own course. We have always worked towards punishing the guilty and sparing the innocent. If by garlanding them (
Ramgarh lynching
case convicts) an impression has gone out that I support such vigilantism then I express regret over it,” Sinha said here. Though BJP appeared to have ignored his controversial action, he had seemed clearly on the back foot after a week of criticism from various quarters, including his father, former Union minister
Yashwant Sinha.
On July 6, a photo went viral on social media in which Sinha could be seen felicitating eight convicts, who came out on bail, of lynching a meat trader in Jharkhand last year. This drew sharp criticism from opponents and others, including his father. “Earlier, I was the Nalayak Baap of a Layak Beta. Now the roles are reversed. That is Twitter. I don’t approve of my son’s action. But I know even this will lead to further abuse. You can never win,” Yashwant Sinha had tweeted.