Akshardham: Stay on death for two

The Supreme Court stayed the death sentence of two terror convicts in the daring Akshardham temple attack of 2002 in Ahmedabad.

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the death sentence of two terror convicts in the daring Akshardham temple attack of 2002 in Ahmedabad in which 33 persons were killed. The court also sought Gujarat governments response to a plea by the convicts for a re-investigation by CBI or any other independent probe agency.

The sentence was stayed by an apex court Bench of Justices B Sudarshan Reddy and S S Nijjar.

In their petition,the convicts have also sought setting aside the Gujarat High Court order confirming their death sentence. Apart from the duo,the court also stayed the life imprisonment of one convict and 10-year-imprisonment given to another in the same case.

The convicts have alleged that tainted IPS officer D G Vanzara,who is behind bars in connection with the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case,had falsely implicated them in the case.

They have claimed that they were erroneously convicted and sentenced to death by a special POTA court which relied on false evidence produced by the Gujarat Police.

It is submitted that the investigating officer never visited Jammu and Kashmir or Hyderabad which as per the prosecution was where the conspiracy was alleged to have been hatched. It is interesting to note that the DCP (Vanzara),who as per the prosecution case had gone to J&K for investigation,was not examined by the prosecution, the appeal said.

According to the appeal,the matter needs to be re-investigated by the CBI or any other independent investigating agency as it involved the life and liberty of the citizen which cannot be left to the whims and caprice of the prosecution.

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On September 24,2002,at around 4.30 pm,fidayeen armed with AK-56 rifles and hand grenades committed mayhem at the temple killing 33 devotees.