Judiciary replies on A Wednesday

The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of the Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab on Wednesday in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, saying that waging war against the country was the primary and foremost offence committed by the Pakistani terrorist. Speaking of Kasab, the court said, 'We fail to see what case would attract the death penalty if not the case of the appellant.'

Kasab had urged from the court to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment handed to him by the Bombay high court and a trial court. The bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice C K Prasad rejected the 25-year-old Kasab's contention that he was not given a free and fair trial in the case. The bench also observed that the failure of government to provide him an advocate at the pre-trial stage did not vitiate trial court proceedings against him. It also held that the confessional statement given by Kasab, which he retracted during the trial, was very much voluntary except for a very small portion.

'We are thus left with no option but to hold that in the facts of the case the  death penalty is the only sentence that can be given to the appellant,' said the court. It further said that 'to hold back the death penalty in this case would amount to obdurately declaring that this Court rejects death as lawful penalty even though it is on the statute book and held valid by Constitutional benches of this Court'.

The apex court said that the only mitigating factor is Kasab's young age, but that was completely offset by the absence of any remorse on his part and the resultant finding that in his case there was no possibility of any reformation or rehabilitation.

In the special leave petition against the Bombay high court judgement, which confirmed his death sentence, Kasab had claimed that he was brainwashed like a 'robot' into committing the crime in the name of 'God' and pleaded that he did not deserve the death penalty keeping in view his young age.

He was sentenced to death by a special anti-terror court on 6 May 2010. The Bombay high court had upheld it on 21 February last year. The high court had confirmed Kasab's conviction on 19 counts under the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, the Explosives Act, the Explosive Substances Act, the Foreigners Act, the Passport Act and the Railways Act.

The senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who had been appointed amicus curiae by the Supreme Court to defend Kasab, said after the verdict, 'I bow to the verdict of the court. As amicus curiae, I was given full opportunity to say all that I could in his defence. Let us take pride in our judicial system which adheres to due process, whoever be the accused and whatever be the crime.'

The apex court upheld the acquittal of two Indians – Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed – who were alleged to be co-conspirators of the Mumbai attack case. The lower courts had given clean chit to them. But, the Maharashtra government challenged their acquittal. They were accused of providing topographical details to the Mumbai attackers. The apex court observed that the evidence shows that conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan.

A special court in Gujarat convicted 32 people on Wednesday, including the former Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] minister Mayaben Kodnani and the former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, in the Naroda Patiya massacre case, in which 97 people were killed by a mob in the communal riots that followed the burning of the Sabarmati Express in Godhra 10 years back.

The special court in Ahmedabad also acquitted 29 people. The sentencing will be done on Friday. 

This is the first time that a former minister has been convicted in a Gujarat riots case. All the convicted, including Kodnani, have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 302 [murder] and Section 120B [conspiracy]. 

The case dates back to 28 February 2002, a day after the train-burning incident in Godhra. A rioting mob attacked Naroda Patiya neighbourhood with guns, bombs and machettes, hacking and killing Muslims in the area. Many of them were chased into a deep pit and then set on fire. The rioting occurred during a bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to protest against the torching of the Sabarmati Express. 

Witnesses told the court that Kodnani, who was the BJP legislator of the area, was seen inciting the mob to commit violence. Bajrangi was accused of leading the mob. He was caught on camera later in a media sting operation, boasting about his hand in the carnage. 

After the incident, 46 persons were arrested by the Gujarat Police. Twenty-four more persons were rounded up after the probe was handed over to the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team in 2008.

Of the 64 accused in the case, three died during the trial. The remaining 61 accused were tried for murder, arson and rioting. Most of them were out on bail. A total of 327 witnesses and 2,500 pieces of documentary evidence were presented to court in the case.

The trial began in August 2009 and charges were framed against the 62 accused soon after. However, one of them, Vijay Shetty, died during the trial.

Mayaben Kodnani is the sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Naroda, near Ahmedabad. She became the minis-ter of women and child development in the Narendra Modi government in 2007 but was forced to resign after a case was lodged against her in the Naroda Patiya massacre. She became an MLA for the first time in 1998 and won elections twice later. She is the first Sindhi leader to become a minister in Gujarat since the state was founded in 1960.