Zaheera moves SC seeking modification in sentence

New Delhi, Mar 20: Zaheera Sheikh, a key witness in the Best Bakery case, today (Mar 20, 2006) filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking modification of the Court's March 8 order which sentenced her to one year simple imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000 for contempt of court.

She has prayed for reducing her sentence to that already undergone and also to waive off the penalty of Rs 50,000 as she has no means to pay the amount.

Zaheera had backed out from her statement made on oath before the Supreme Court by way of an affidavit.

The applicant had pleaded that she was a victim of circumstances as on March 1, 2002 she was only 16 years old and a month earlier her father had died leaving behind five children of tender age.

She has also lost her elder brother Nafitullah, who was suffering from kidney failure, on March 2, for want of medical aid. Her family was on the verge of starvation, she added.

Zaheera, who surrendered before the court of Additional Sessions Judge, Greater Mumbai at Mazgaon on March 10, has also complained that the government had not only given Rs five lakh to Rs 10 lakh to the families of the 1984 riot victims but also residential plots and flats.

However, she who too had lost her near and dear ones and also suffered pecuniary losses, has not been provided any aid either by the state or Central governments.

She said, being an illiterate, she had been exploited by the politicians and she and her family members required ''justice blended with mercy''.

Zaheera had also cited the case of a Delhi police official whose sentence of six months was reduced to that already undergone. In that case, the contemnor had served only 20 days in prison.

UNI