1996 Lajpat Nagar blasts: SC hands down life sentence without remission to 4 convicts

Nearly 27 years after 13 people were killed and 38 injured in a bomb explosion at a bustling Lajpat Nagar market here the Supreme Court Thursday handed down life sentence to four convicts for the remainder of their lives without remission saying they executed an international conspiracy to destabilise India by carrying out the blastThe top court which dwelt in detail on the severity of the offence however did not agree with the vehement plea of the prosecution that the convicts be awarded the death penalty for snuffing out innocent lives in the blast on May 21 1996The bench comprising Justices B R Gavai Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol in its 190page judgement spared the four convicts Mohd Naushad Mirza Nissar Hussain alias Naza Mohd Ali Bhatt alias Killey and Javed Ahmed Khan the gallows on the ground of delayIt said though the offence falls within the category of rarest of rare cases the delay of 27 years in all and 14 years in the trial court in deciding the case are the mitigating circumstances in favour of the convictsThe incident took place on May 21 1996 ie approximately 27 years ago the Trial Court awarded the sentence of death on April 22 2010 ie more than 13 years ago and the present accused acting at the behest of the principal conspirators are all mitigating circumstances in not awarding the sentence of death even though it falls within the category of rarest of rare casesIn view of the severity of the offence resulting in deaths of innocent persons and the role played by each accused person all these accused persons are sentenced to imprisonment for life without remission extending to natural life Accused if on bail are directed to immediately surrender before the Court concerned and their bail bonds stand cancelledIt ordered convicts Mirza Nissar Hussain alias Naza and Mohd Ali Bhatt alias Killey who were earlier acquitted by the Delhi High Court to surrender to jail forthwith to serve the life termThe top court was very critical of the delay in trial against the convicts and said it compromised the national interestThe record reveals it is only on the prodding on the part of the judiciary that the trial could be completed after more than a decade The delay be it for whatever reason attributable to the judge incharge or the prosecution has certainly compromised national interest it saidIt said expeditious trial of such cases is the need of the hour especially when it concerns national security and the common manRegrettably enough vigilance was not displayed by the investigating as well as the judicial authorities A prominent market in the heart of the capital city is attacked and we may point out that it has not been dealt with the required degree of promptitude and attention it saidExpressing dismay the bench said it was forced to observe that this may be due to the involvement of influential persons which was evident from the fact that out of several accused only a few were put to trialIn our considered view the matter ought to have been handled with urgency and sensitivity at all levels it saidThe verdict dealt with the circumstantial evidence and the facts relating to recovery and arrests of the convicts in minute detailsHaving considered the circumstances alleged by the prosecution against the accused persons it is clear that the prosecution has proved the guilt of the accused in the commission of the crime The last question which arises before us is whether all these accused persons were part of a conspiracy under Section 120B criminal conspiracy of the IPC We find this question to be answered in the affirmative the bench saidIt held that the blast was planned at the behest of other accused persons who remained elusive and were declared proclaimed offendersIt is evident that all these accused were known to each other and were participating with the common objective to carry out the blast in Delhi in furtherance of an international conspiracy to cause disruptive activities in India All the proven circumstances taken together form a chain of events that implicates the accused persons it saidDelhi police initially had filed the chargesheet against 17 people for their involvement in the blastOut of 17 one died and seven were declared as proclaimed offenders and never faced any trial The remaining nine accused were triedThe trial court had convicted six and handed down varying jail terms to them It had awarded death penalty to three convicts Mohd Naushad Mirza Nissar Hussain and Mohd Ali BhattOnly the four convicts had filed separate appeals in the Delhi High Court assailing the judgment of their conviction and sentence pronounced by the trial courtThe Delhi High Court had upheld the conviction of Mohd Naushad and Javel Ahmad KhanIt had however commuted the sentence of death penalty to life term The high court had however acquitted Mirza Nissar Hussain and Mohd Ali BhattThe top court held all the four guilty of various offences including stealing a car for using it in the crimeThis 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