Sentencing of blasts convicts to begin from Apr 19

Mumbai, Mar 14: The special TADA court today said it would startannouncing sentences on 100 accused found guilty in '93 blasts fromApril 19.

Designated Judge Pramod Kode said he would dispose of all pendingapplications in the case on April 16-17 before pronouncing sentence inbatches from April 19.

In one of the longest judicial trials in the world history, thecourt found 100 guilty of the 123 accused who faced the trial, whileunderworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his key aide Tiger Memon, amongothers, still continue to be fugitive in the case investigated andprosecuted by the CBI.

After conclusion of the trial in 2003, the court took 84 days fromSeptember 12 to December 4, last year in declaring the accused guiltyand acquitting the remaining.

Of the 100 convicted, the court had reserved order on theapplication of Bollywood actor-convict Sanjay Dutt, who sought reliefunder the Probation of Offender Act (POA) after his conviction underthe Arms Act.

The court said it would announce order on his application duringthe course of sentencing. Besides Dutt, three of his associates werealso convicted under the Arms Act.

Of the remaining 96 convicts, as many as 90 have been found guiltyunder the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities ( Prevention) Act, andsix under the Customs Act.

The blasts shook the financial capital fourteen years ago on March12, 1993, which claimed 257 lives and left over 700 people wounded.

In the five applications pending before the TADA court, groups ofconvicts have sought parity with actor Sanjay Dutt, retrial of theircase, quashing of terror charge against them and prosecution of the CBIfor ''supressing vital facts'' in the case. Besides, an intervener hasopposed granting of relief to Dutt under POA.

Opposing all four applications moved by the groups of convicts,CBI counsel Ujwal Nikam said all those seeking parity with Dutt shouldgo to the Supreme Court because TADA court was not the proper forum forit.

Adv Nikam also opposed the application of 68 convicts seekingretrial, arguing that TADA court did not have the power to orderretrial and cited the Gujarat Best Bakery case in which retrial wasordered by the Supreme Court.

Refuting the charge that CBI supressed vital facts in the case,the counsel said they had placed all evidence before the court and itwas for the court to appreciate it and take decisions. However, thedefence counsel Mushtaq Ahmed alleged that CBI supressed the fact ofrecovery of four hand grenades from Dutt and made no mention of itwhile opposing his relief application under the POA. Dutt, he said, hadconfessed possession of the hand grenades and the fact was alsomentioned during the course of the trial.

Dutt, acquitted under TADA, is convicted only under the Arms Act for possessing an assault rifle and a pistol.

Further opposing the application of 69 convicts who contendedtheir crime did not fall under the purview of TADA, Adv Nikam said theprosecuting agency had done its job by placing all evidence before thecourt and it was for the court to decide whether accused were to beconvicted of the charge or not.

However, CBI counsel said they agreed with the intervener opposinggrant of relief to Dutt under POA, adding the prosecution also holdssimilar contention.

UNI

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