2008 Ahmedabad blasts case: Special court to hear defence today

Special judge Ambalal R Patel will on Tuesday hear the arguments of the defence in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case.

Ahmedabad (Gujarat): Special judge Ambalal R Patel will today hear the arguments of the defence in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case. The prosecution on Monday concluded the arguments on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to the 49 convicts. Earlier on February 8th, the special court judge had convicted 49 persons and acquitted 28 others, 13 years after a series of coordinated bomb blasts killed 56 people and left more than 200 injured in Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008.

Special public prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt said, "The court heard the prosecution on Monday. It will hear the defence on Tuesday. The court has barred print and electronic media from reporting the details of the arguments on the quantum of sentence until the final verdict is awarded. The court also said that the details of the arguments made by the accused and their lawyers as well as the prosecution should not be published in print or electronic media until the final verdict is pronounced."

The accused have been convicted under Sections 302 (punishment for murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 121 (a) (conspiracy to wage war or attempt to wage war against the nation) and 124 (a) (sedition), among others, of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 16(1)(a)(b) of the UAPA related to punishment for a terrorist act. The accused were also convicted under the Explosive Substances Act and the Damage to Public Property Act. One accused was also convicted under the Arms Act.

The court had concluded the trial against the 77 accused in September last year. Out of the 78 accused put on trial, one had turned approver. The police had claimed that the people associated with terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), a faction of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), were involved in the blasts.

According to the prosecution, IM terrorists had planned the bomb blasts to avenge the 2002 post-Godhra communal riots in Gujarat. Days after the serial blasts ripped through Ahmedabad, the police recovered bombs from different parts of Surat, following which 20 FIRs were registered in Ahmedabad and 15 in Surat. The convicts were presented before the court via video conferencing. They attract a maximum punishment of death sentence and imprisonment for life.

Out of the 49 convicts, 32 are currently lodged in the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, four in a jail in Bengaluru, seven in Bhopal, three in Taloja, two in Jaipur, and one in Gaya.