PM assures Verma panel of fast action

Moving to dispel any doubt that the government was going slow on the justice JS Verma panel report, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday assured the former chief justice of India that his recommendations would be taken up promptly.

Moving to dispel any doubt that the government was going slow on the justice JS Verma panel report, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday assured the former chief justice of India that his recommendations would be taken up promptly.

"That the committee submitted its report within 30 days is testimony to your commitment to and concern for public good. On behalf of our government, I assure you we will be prompt in pursuing the recommendations," Singh wrote to justice Verma, thanking him and the other panel members, justice Leila Seth and Gopal Subramanium.

The letter followed justice Verma's lament about lack of support from the home ministry when the report was being prepared.

"So far, only minister of state for home RPN Singh has contacted us for discussion," he said.

Meanwhile, addressing the uproar over an accused in the Delhi gang rape and murder case being declared a minor - which would see him get away with a much lighter sentence - law minister Ashwani Kumar said "the government is reflecting on all options and views and will take… action at the earliest" on whether the juvenile age should be brought down from the current 18 years to 16.