1993 blasts: Sentence to be given from May 9

Mumbai, May 8: The process of pronouncing sentences upon the March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case convicts will commence from tomorrow.

All 123, persons, who faced the trials, have been asked to remain present before Judge P D Kode who conducted trials into the case.

Among these 123 are the 23 persons who have been acquitted. However, they too have have been asked to remain present as the reasons for their acquittal would be cited.

Among the 100 accused, who have been convicted, is Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt. He and eight others have been granted bail.

The process of pronouncing the quantum of sentence is likely to take up a few weeks.

On March 12, 1993 a dozen blasts had rocked Mumbai in retaliation of the demolition of the Babri Masjid structure on December 6, 1992.

The blasts had left 257 dead and 713 injured, besides damaging property worth Rs 27 crore.

The blasts were engineered by fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and smuggler Tiger Memon at the behest of the ISI, the Pakistani spy agency.

The process of delivering the judgement had commenced on September 12 and during the course of the last seven months Judge Kode held 100 persons guilty while acquitting 23 others. Those found guilty include members of the Memon family, the people who planted bombs and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt who has been convicted under the Arms Act for possessing a 9-mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle. This was one of the biggest trials in the Indian judicial history.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the prosecuting agency in the serial blasts case, has demanded ''maximum punishment'' for all those convicted, but has urged the court to show leniency to three women convicts on compassionate grounds and two male convicts who are suffering from life-threatening ailments.

The CBI has demanded death penalty for 44 convicts who were found guilty under section 120B of IPC (criminal conspiracy) and TADA charges, life imprisonment for 42 who have been convicted under TADA, and maximum punishment for nine others who have been convicted under other acts like the Customs Act and Arms Act.

UNI