Hearing of Jaipur blasts case of 2008 reaches final stage at HC, Legal News, ET LegalWorld – Legal Firms

JAIPUR: The hearing on the petition challenging the death sentence of four accused in the Jaipur serial blast of 2008 is in the final stages at the Rajasthan High Court. There were a total of 26 appeal petitions filed in the court which were clubbed together and are being heard.

The bench of Justice Pankaj Bhandari has asked the counsels for the accused to give their arguments in writing this week upon completion of arguments in court. The Jaipur bombings were a series of nine synchronized bomb blasts that took place on May 13, 2008, which killed about 80 people and injured 170 in a span of 15 minutes at various locations in Jaipur.

The Special NIA court on December 20, 2019 sentenced to death four of the five accused- Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Sarwar, Mohammad Salman and Saifur Rahman for guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy, and other charges under the Indian Penal Code, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Shahbaz Ahmed, who had allegedly emailed media houses on behalf of Indian Mujahideen (IM) to claim responsibility for the blasts on May 13, 2008, was acquitted by the court.

The counsel for the convicts tried to find fault with the police investigation and procedural lapses. They claimed that the sentence was awarded based on the witnesses’ statements. The prosecution argued for upholding the stringent punishment awarded by the trial court.