…Terror trials ruling city courts

In what can be considered as a case with international ramifications,the trial of Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab dominated the legal scenario this year.

In what can be considered as a case with international ramifications,the trial of Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab dominated the legal scenario this year. Meanwhile,other terror cases Malegaon blast and 7/11 train blasts have not shown any development.

In the 26/11 trial,the prosecution has examined 610 witnesses to prove charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war on India against Kasab. The case has reached the final leg where Kasab has dramatically denied the charges levelled against him. This would be his fourth statement ever since 26/11 attack. Kasab had earlier made an admission of guilt before the police soon after his arrest. The other confession that he had made before a magistrate was admissible as evidence and the third one was in the trial court when he had accepted a partial guilt plea.

Kasab,a standard IV dropout,was identified by at least 30 witnesses in the court. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam also examined FBI officials who helped the Indian team in the investigation. Some technical experts from abroad also deposed to prove that mobile phones used by terrorists to communicate with their Pakistani handlers were procured from a dealer in Pakistan.

Kasabs lawyer Abbas Kazmi was sacked by the judge for not cooperating with the court and refusing to accept its suggestions. Soon,his junior K P Pawar took over as the main defence lawyer.

2003 twin blast trial

A special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court,on August 6,awarded death penalty to three persons,including a married couple,for carrying out the 2003 twin blasts in Mumbai.

The accused Hanif Sayed Anees (46),his wife Fehmida (43) and Arshat Ansari (32) were held guilty of planting powerful bombs at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25,2003,killing 54 people and injuring 244. The trio had planted a bomb in a municipal bus in suburban Ghatkopar on July 28. Two persons were killed in this blast.

They were given the death sentence after the court observed that it was a rarest of rare case. It was also the first time that a married couple was being convicted of terror acts under POTA.

2008 Malegaon blast trial

Story continues below this ad

Special MCOCA Judge Y D Shinde dropped MCOCA charges on the 2008 Malegaon blast case accused observing that the 13 accused in the case did not form part of an organised crime syndicate. The case has been transferred to the Nashik sessions court. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur,Dayanand Pandey,Lt Col Prasad Purohit and eight others were arrested in the case. The state government has appealed against the dropping of MCOCA from the case in the Bombay High Court. The case is still pending in the court.

Trials in CBI courts

Along with the ATS,the CBI also made high-profile arrests this year. In June 2008,it arrested NCP leader and member of Parliament Padamsinh Patil for allegedly conspiring to murder Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar on June 3,2006. The CBI alleged that Patil paid Rs 30 lakh to the co-accused for murdering Nimbalkar. It filed a 5000-page chargesheet on August 20. Patil was released on bail in September by the Alibag sessions court. But within two weeks,he was arrested again on a complaint filed by social activist Anna Hazare alleging that Patil had offered a supari (contract) to kill him.

On July 31,the CBI arrested Sarobjit Singh,son of National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes chairman Buta Singh,for allegedly demanding Rs 1 crore from a Nashik-based contractor,Ramrao Patil,for closing a case against him. A special CBI court had granted bail to Sarobjit a week after his arrest. The CBI is yet to file its chargesheet in the case.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram