Defence seeks milder punishment for blast convicts

Mumbai, Feb 23 (UNI) The defence in the 1993 serial blast case today sought lesser punishment for the 100 persons who have already been convicted by the TADA court here but which are yet to given the quantum of sentence.

A battery of defence lawyers, comprising Majid Memon, Subhash Kanse, and Farhana Shah, urged the court to consider the circumstances which had led the convicted persons to involve themselves in the blast conspiracy before it handed down the sentences upon them.

In his submission before TADA judge P D Kode, Adv Memon said the serial blasts in the metropolis were in retaliation to the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

The demolition was followed by communal riots in the city in which members of the minority community had suffered.

On the prosecution's contention that the convicted persons should be awarded capital punishment in accordance to the apex court judgement in the Parliament attack case, Adv Memon argued that the Parliament attack case and blast case were different in nature.

The court should award the sentences in the present case after considering the circumstances which had led to the involvement of his clients, he argued.

UNI