1993 Mumbai blast convicts have ray of hope

Mumbai, Jan 30: Twenty-one convicts undergoing life-imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case have a ray of hope in securing bail in the wake of Supreme Court's order granting bail to Essa Memon, a prime convict, a legal expert reckons. Majeed Memon, representing the Memon family the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai blasts, and other convicts in the case said according to the law if a convict had spent half of his sentenced period awarded by the court he was entitled for release on bail till the appeal was pending in the higher court.

He said most of the convicts in this case undergoing life imprisonment have already been behind the bars for 13 years. Regarding life sentence, Mr Memon said according to a recent Supreme Court ruling, life sentence means till the last breath in jail, but at the same time the court had also specified the definition of life sentence according to which convicts could get state pardon for good conduct on occasions such as Independence day and Republic day, if the jail tenure was 28 years.

Mr Memon further said in the recent case, over 15 convicts out of 21 had already spent nearly 14 years in jail or more than that period, which alone could be a good ground for bail. Advocate Farhana Shah, who had represented Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt in the case, said the Apex court ruling was a hope for the convicts and in addition, there were several grounds which can enable a convict to receive a bail from the court.

Meanwhile, another lawyer Subhash Kanse who was also representing various convicts, also echoed the same opinion.

The Apex court is all set to hear the bail plea of some of the convicts who have been sentenced to life imprisonment, including the sister-in-law of Tiger Memon.

UNI