JM Road blasts: Bail plea of accused lodged in jail since 2012 rejected
The court said that the charges against Khan are serious and the long time he has spent in jail cannot be the sole ground to release him on bail.
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The case involved five low-intensity blasts on JM Road in Pune on August 1, 2012, which resulted in injury to one person. (File Photo)A special court on Friday rejected the bail plea of a man booked in the Pune JM Road blast case after observing that although the accused has spent 13 years in jail as an undertrial, the trial has now started. The court rejected the bail plea of Asad Khan, who has been behind bars since 2012.
“…it is necessary for deciding the bail application of accused no.1 (Khan) at the circumstances about the nature and gravity of offence for which he is being tried and his active and prime role and participation in commission of crime as well as the nature and quality of evidence collected by the prosecution against such accused would be considered along with aspect of long incarceration for about 13 years,” special judge Shayana Patil said.
The court said that the charges against Khan are serious and the long time he has spent in jail cannot be the sole ground to release him on bail.
The case involved five low-intensity blasts on JM Road in Pune on August 1, 2012, which resulted in injury to one person. Nine persons were arrested, and the charges were framed against them in 2022.
Khan through his lawyers had argued that only over 20 witnesses have been examined and over 300 are cited in the chargesheet, which means that the case is not possibly going to be completed soon. He also cited that a co-accused, Munib Memon, was granted bail in 2024 on the ground of long incarceration by the Bombay High Court. It was also submitted that the maximum punishment that the charge in the case have is life imprisonment, whereas they have already spent over 12 years in jail.
The prosecution opposed the bail plea stating that the charges against him are serious, including the recovery of a hard disk with ‘jihadi’ speeches and ‘incriminating’ articles. The court said that Khan is alleged to be the prime accused in the case.
In April, another accused in the case had sought to plead guilty, but the court had rejected the plea, observing that the decision seemed to be due to long imprisonment for 12 years and does not appear voluntary.
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