High court blast case: New judge orders fresh arguments on plea challenging juvenile conviction
The Delhi High Court, allowing the writ petition in the Tantray case, had asked ASJ Atul Kumar Garg, who had heard the entire trial, to pass the order despite the case being transferred to a different court.
With the transfer of an additional sessions judge (ASJ) who had reserved her order on the defence plea challenging the conviction of a juvenile in the 2011 Delhi High Court blast case, the new presiding judge has ordered fresh arguments in the case.
The court of ASJ Rakesh Pandit ordered the fresh arguments and rejected the defence plea to transfer the case to ASJ Neena Bansal Krishna, who had heard the arguments for over five months on the plea challenging the Juvenile Justice Board’s (JJB) conviction order. On May 27, ASJ Krishna had reserved the order on the plea.
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On Friday, when the matter was listed for order, advocate Mehmood Pracha, counsel for the juvenile, argued before the court that since the matter was “conclusively heard” by ASJ Krishna, she should pass the order. The defence argued for transfer of the case to the court of the predecessor judge (ASJ Krishna) relying on a Delhi High Court division bench judgment which had allowed a defence petition challenging the transfer of a case involving Javed Ahmed Tantray, formerly suspected to be a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist.
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The Delhi High Court, allowing the writ petition in the Tantray case, had asked ASJ Atul Kumar Garg, who had heard the entire trial, to pass the order despite the case being transferred to a different court.
ASJ Pandit, however, rejected this argument and said, “As far as this judgment is concerned, the same is passed by High Court by exercising writ jurisdiction and that also for one matter only, so the application of this judgment is not general in effect.”
Meanwhile, senior Public Public Prosecutor Amit Sharma, for the NIA, opposing the defence plea for transfer of case, submitted the court “can hear the fresh arguments”.
Subsequently, the ASJ Pandit ordered, “The plea of counsel for the accused to send the file before the same judge is not tenable and thus rejected. However, parties are at liberty to address fresh arguments, if they desire…”
The court listed fresh arguments on December 21.
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Advocate Pracha said they would move the Delhi HC against the order rejecting the defence plea for transfer of case. “The order was already reserved and over five months of arguments were heard by the predecessor of this court,” Pracha said.
The present appeal relates to a July 2014 order where the JJB had found the juvenile guilty and ordered him to a three-year term at a special home. Principal Magistrate Vishal Singh, on July 7, 2014, had found the juvenile guilty for his role in the September 7, 2011, terror attack.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
