Court adjourns Zaheera perjury trial, plea in HC against judge remarks

The sessions court will hear the argument on Friday on whether the proceedings should be stayed in view of the revision petition in the

High Court.

Thipsay, in his judgement, which convicted nine persons for Best Bakery killings, had stated that Zaheera had intentionally lied at the retrial. The judge had reached the same conclusion regarding testimonies of her mother Sehrunnisa, her sister Sahira and brother Nasibullah.

On the basis of this conclusion, he has initiated summary trial against them for giving false evidence.

The petition not only demands that these remarks by the sessions judge be removed, but also seeks to quash the whole judgement and conviction of nine persons therein. Among other things, the petition has challenges Thipsay’s remark that Zaheera’s statement (at the retrial) that she did not file the FIR — on attack on Bakery — was false. It also claims that the judge erred in disbelieving Zaheera when she said she did not name any of the accused in her statement to the police.

Also, the revision petition claims, ‘‘the judge erred in observing that Zaheera had falsely stated that she was unaware of her approach to Supreme Court”, and ‘‘she did not know the result of trial in Vadodara court”.