Evening NEWS DIGEST
3 Feb.2017: 5 Jamadiul Awwal 1438: Vol:8, No:106
2002 tiffin blast :After 13
years in jail, SC acquits Muslim accused
AHMEDABAD: Supreme Court on
Thursday acquitted two persons and upheld conviction of two others in
connection with the 2002 tiffin-bomb blast case, in which the state government
had invoked the Pota.Habib Hawa and Hanif Pakitwala will walk out declared
innocent, after spending 13 years in jail. The apex court also ended the
imprisonment of two others — Anas Machiswala and Kalim Ahmed — and ordered
their release by treating the 13 years they spent in jail as punishment already
undergone. All four were convicted to life imprisonment by Gujarat high court,
their advocate Khalid Shaikh said.These four men were convicted in relation to
five bombs planted in tiffin boxes aboard Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service
(AMTS) buses on May 29, 2002. Three of the bombs went off, injuring 13 persons.
The blasts were shown to be a reaction to the 2002 riots.After investigation,
city crime branch filed chargesheets against 21 persons for hatching a criminal
conspiracy to carry out reprisals for the riots. They were also charged under
Pota and the Explosive Substances Act apart from provisions of the Indian Penal
Code.The special Pota court discharged four persons from the case. On May 29.
2006, after trying 17 accused, the court acquitted 12 and convicted five -
Hawa, Pakitwala, Kalim Ahmed, Machiswala and Maulvi Mansuri. They were
sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.The convicts challenged the Pota court order
in the high court, while the state government also challenged the order before
the HC, seeking the punishment to be enhanced.The appeals were heard by a bench
of Justice Jayant Patel and Justice H B Antani. The HC upheld convictions of
the four and acquitted Mansuri. While upholding the convictions of the four,
the HC enhanced their their punishment from a 10-year jail term to life
imprisonment.Advocate Shaikh said that Machiswala and Kalim Ahmed, whose
convictions were upheld by the SC, confessed to the crime of hatching a
conspiracy in another case, which involved an 'ISI conspiracy'.TOI
Compiled and edited by Anwarulhaq (Released at: 2:21 PM)
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