Court orders jail staff to return architecture books to accused

Invoking a prisoner’s right to education,a special trial court for the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case on Wednesday directed Ahmedabad Central Jail authorities to give back two books on architecture to an accused in the case. The jail authorities had seized the two books from the accused,a student of architecture,apprehending that it might be used by jail inmates to dig a tunnel and escape from the jail.

The accused has been identified as Mohammed Sami Bagewadi from Bijapur of Karnataka. Bagewadi was an architecture student of Vishveshwaraiah Technology University at Belgaum in Karnataka. Following his arrest,he could not continue his studies. Now,since he wanted to clear the examinations of two subjects for Masters,Bagewadi had got seven books from his father in March last year. In February this year,undertrials in the case planned a daring jailbreak at at the Sabarmati Central Jail which was thwarted by prison officials who uncovered a 18-feet long tunnel. Later,two of Bagewadi’s seven books were seized by Ahmedabad Central Jail authorities under the apprehension that such books might be used by prisoners to dig a tunnel and escape from the jail since it was related to architecture.

Bagewadi had challenged this seizure of books before the special trial court through his lawyer I M Munshi while contending that the books were provided to him by his father with the permission of the jail staff at the relevant time.

Munshi said that the books were not even seized by Ahmedabad City Detection of Crime Branch when they raided the jail. Munshi said that the special trial judge for the case,Jyotsana Yagnik,had allowed the application of Bagewadi on Wednesday,observing that the accused had a right to education.