New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday issued notice on a plea by the Assam government challenging the Gauhati High Court, which acquitted the accused in the 2004 Assam's Dhemaji district bomb blast case. The bomb blast occurred on August 15, 2004, in which 10 children and 3 women lost their lives.
A bench comprising justices J K Maheshwari and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice on an appeal filed by the Assam government. The petition in the Supreme Court was argued by Nalin Kohli, AAG for the State of Assam, assisted by Ankit Roy, standing counsel for Assam, Nimisha Menon advocate and advocate Shruti Agarwal.
The high court on August 24, 2023, overturned the trial court’s judgment of July 4, 2019, which had convicted five accused including ULFA members, and held them responsible for the incident.
The Assam government contended that the high court erroneously reversed the conviction of the respondents namely, Dipanjali Borgohain, Lila Gogoi, Jatin Dowari and Muhi Handique under Section 302 and Section 323 r/w Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 3(a) and 4(b) (i) of the Explosive Substances Act r/w Section 120-B IPC and Section 10(b)(i) and Section 13(1) (a) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA ) and another respondent, Hemen Gogoi under Section 10(a)(iv) and Section 13(2) of the UAPA.
“The High Court has erroneously reversed the conviction of the accused by rejecting the confessional statement of Jatin Dowari on the ground that the same was retracted, despite such retraction being after an inordinate delay of ten years”, said the state government’s plea.
The plea contended that the high court erred in discarding the confessional statement of Jatin Dowari on the basis that the statement was retracted subsequently. “In this regard, it is stated that the High Court erred in not considering that the confessional statement was recorded on October 12, 2004. Jatin Dowari retracted his statement on February 26, 2019, after a prolonged delay of 15 years and therefore, was clearly an afterthought and ingenuine. As such, the said retraction was inconsequential to the credibility of the said confessional statement”, said the plea.
“This Hon’ble Court in Sanjay Dutt Vs. State of Maharashtra, (2013) has held that due regard has to be given to the time gap between the confessional statement and the retraction. In case of prolonged delay, the same would amount to an afterthought and therefore such retraction would be immaterial”, added the plea.
The pela said that the high court judgment incorrectly records that the confessional statement does not incriminate Jatin Dowari in any manner. “A bare perusal of the said statement makes it clear that Jatin Dowari in criminal conspiracy acted and abetted the other Respondents in the planting of the bomb”, it added.
The plea said there is sufficient uncontroverted evidence to show that the respondents accused in a conspiracy to commit unlawful activities are guilty of the unfortunate bomb blast that took place on August 15, 2004, with full knowledge and intent that it would cause the death of individuals attending the Independence Day event at the Dhemaji college playground.
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