Al-Umma chief, 30 others get life term

On August 1, the judge had convicted 70 of the 166 accused, acquitting eight, including the Kerala-based PDP chief Abdul Naser Mahdani. The judge had earlier sentenced 83 persons on less serious charges and let them off as they had already served time in prison, longer than the terms for which they were sentenced. Of the total 168 accused, one died and another had turned approver.

Four of the accused, said to have been members of the suicide squad assigned with the job of planting bombs at the venue of a public meeting which BJP leader L K Advani was to address, were awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment. However, the judge directed them to apply for remission, as they had already undergone a sentence of nine years as undertrials.

Basha, the mastermind behind the blasts, was awarded a life term and three years RI while Ansari, said to have executed the plot, was given two life sentences and terms ranging from two to nine years, for various charges, all running concurrently. Accused No. 6, Abdul Ojir, was awarded the maximum years of sentence—four life terms, for conspiracy and planting bombs at three places, and various prison terms. Basith, the bomb expert who helped assemble the explosive devices, was given a life term, six seven-year terms and one of three years.

The prosecution, which had pressed for death penalty, argued that the blasts were intended to kill Advani and were meant as retaliation for the killing of some Muslims in communal riots some weeks before the blasts.

When Judge Uthirapthy began proceedings, jail authorities brought in the first batch of the accused, including Basha, Ansari, Basha’s brother, Nawab Khan and his son, Siddique. The accused were brought from the Coimbatore Central prison and summoned one by one before the judge. While sentences for 35 accused were pronounced on Wednesday, the judge is likely to finish the pronouncement for the remaining 35 on Thursday.

Defence lawyers complained that they had not yet been shown the operative portions of the judgment before they made their submissions on sentencing. “It is a fit case for appeal. This charge of conspiracy will not stand scrutiny before the higher courts, as the prosecution case was shattered by the defence,” said P. Thirumalairajan, a senior defence lawyer.