A Tis Hazari Court on Monday slammed the Sabarmati Jail superintendent for not producing 11 persons,who have been charged with various offences relating to the September 2008 Delhi serial blasts,before it. Additional Sessions Judge Santosh Snehi Mann had issued warrants for their production on February 5. Asking the officer why he failed to ensure the production of the accused lodged in Sabarmati,Mann said: Non-production (of accused) is non-compliance of the judicial order,for which an explanation is required from the Sabarmati Jail superintendent. Fresh warrants should be issued to secure their production. As the court was scheduled to deliver its order on the charges framed against them on Monday,the judge has now asked the jail superintendent to give an explanation for the delay on March 8,the next date of hearing. Of the 13 accused charged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,Shehzad and Mohammad Hakim are lodged in Delhi. The eleven persons lodged in Sabarmati Jail for their alleged involvement in the Ahmedabad blasts are Mohd Saif,Shakeel,Zeeshan,Zia-Ur-Rehman,Saquib Nisar,Sadique,Kayamuddin Kapadia,M A Peerbhoy,Mubin Kadar Sheikh,Asif and Ismail. The court also took strict note of a communication by the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner to the Delhi Police,seeking armed escorts for transporting the accused from Sabarmati Jail to Delhi. Investigation Officer Bhisham Singh submitted before the court: If the escort is sent by the Delhi Police,it will amount to taking the accused into police custody,whereas the nature of their custody is judicial. The Sabarmati jail superintendent is requested to secure their production (in Delhi). This court is constrained to know about the correspondence from the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner to the Joint CP of the Delhi Police Special Cell,and it seems to be beyond the authority and law, the judge said,adding,Why is the Commissioner of Police in the picture here? Noting that the correspondence amounts to interfering in an issue concerning the judiciary,the court observed: I fail to understand under what authority and provisions of the law has the Commissioner of Police assumed the role,responsibility and authority to intervene in a judicial matter. The 13 persons have been charged with waging war against the state and effecting the September 2008 serial blasts,in which 26 people died and over 100 were injured. Two of them Atif Ameen,alleged leader of the Indian Mujahideen,and Mohd Sajid,another activist were killed during the Batla House encounter days after the blast. Salman,another accused,was discharged by the ASJ on February 5 for want of evidence.
