Jayant Sinha, the minister of the state of Civil Aviation and the MP of Hazaribagh was accused of garlanding the convicts of lynching a cattle trader in Ramgarh. The convicts had received life imprisonment for killing Alimuddin Ansari from a fast track court in March 2018. These 8 convicts got bail in June from the high court as it could not find any specific evidence and stated that there was no specific assault evidence but they were part of the mob.

This action predictably met with a huge uproar from the opposition and common people likewise. There is also a petition circulating online to strip him of his Harvard alumni status.

If the sight of a highly educated MP & Central Minister, Jayant Sinha, garlanding & honouring criminals convicted of lynching an innocent man, fills you with disgust, click on the link & support this petition.

Sign Petition:https://t.co/K9CrzHbNOz via @ChangeOrg_India

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 10, 2018

Jayant Sinha has since expressed regret in his actions which caused such furor and has tweeted that he doesn’t support lynching and this was not the message to be interpreted from the incident. In an interview with the Economic Times, he stated that everyone in his constituency had the right to constitutional rights including convicts.

I unequivocally condemn all acts of violence and reject any type of vigilantism. The rule of law is supreme in our constitutional democracy. Any unlawful acts, particularly those that violate the rights of any citizen, should be punished with the full force of the law.

— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) July 7, 2018

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

He has also tweeted that the High Court observations were primarily positive and that the convicts might get a fresh trial.

No, I do not. These people came to my house. They and their families were overjoyed that they were now out on bail, the Hon'ble High Court's observations were prima facie positive, and that they would get a fresh trial. https://t.co/8yk2cdTG0G

— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) July 12, 2018

Although they came to his house, the garlanding was uncalled for. Whatever his intentions were, a politician felicitating convicts of a lynching case does send alarm signs to the people who voted for him in his constituency. He could have also waited for the fresh trial to begin before garlanding the men.

Update: Mr. Jayant Sinha has defended him on Twitter by inviting Rahul Gandhi for a debate on this issue.

I invite Sh. @RahulGandhi ji to a live debate. pic.twitter.com/7c3cE18uKE

— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) July 12, 2018

When Swara Bhaskar questioned him he responded like this. Tweet Link

To which one user responded Link