1993 blasts: Court rejects CBI plea

Days after the special designated TADA court rejected the CBI’s plea seeking examination of all the witnesses in the 1993 blasts case,the court on Wednesday rejected another application for finding and examining the forgotten crucial witnesses. The CBI in its application had stated that there were a few important witnesses who will have to be examined to nail extradited gangster Abu Salem.

Defence lawyer Farhana Shah rejected the application calling it a yet another stunt by the prosecution to delay the trial. While the trial is in the final phase of recording the accused’s statement under section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC),the court rejected the application stating that no new application cannot be submitted when the court has concluded the proceedings.

So far 15 accused have been examined against Salem. However,the defence had opposed two witnesses challenging their relevance in the case. Salem has three trials pending against him — murder of actor Manisha Koirala’s secretary Ajit Dewani,murder of builder Pradeep Jain and 1993 serial blasts trial under TADA— in Mumbai.