2000 Sabarmati blast case: 4-member panel formed to monitor trial

Supreme Court of India. (File Photo)

Following the Supreme Court’s observation that the 2000 Sabarmati Express blast trial was moving at a snail’s pace, the Barabanki administration has formed a four-member committee comprising prosecution officials to monitor the trial. Nine passengers were killed in the blast, which occurred in a general compartment of the Sabarmati Express when it had reached Barabanki on the night of August 14, 2000. The case has been pending in a local court of the district.

Last month, the SC expressed strong displeasure over the incarceration of one of the accused, Gulzar Ahmed Wani alias Gulzar Kashmiri, who has been lodged in jail for the past 16 years. The SC had said that Gulzar would be released on bail on November 1 if the trial court fails to complete examination of witnesses by that time.

Akhilesh Tiwari, District Magistrate Barabanki, confirmed, “The committee has been formed in the light of the Supreme Court directive.”

The panel includes Joint Director, Prosecution, (Barabanki) R K Upadhyaya, District Government Counsel (DGC) AV Singh and ADGCs Mathura Prasad Verma and Amar Singh Yadav.