2008 Ahmedabad blasts: Prosecution concludes arguments on quantum of sentence, court to hear defence tomorrow

The prosecution on Monday concluded arguments on the quantum of sentence for the 49 convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blast case. Special judge AR Patel will hear the arguments of the defence on Tuesday, special public prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt said.

The court has barred the print and electronic media from reporting the details of the arguments on the quantum of sentence until the final verdict is awarded, Brahmbhatt said.

The court had said that details of the arguments made by the accused and their lawyers as well as the prosecution should not be published in print or electronic media until the final verdict is pronounced.

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The special court had last Tuesday convicted 49 people and acquitted 28 others, over 13 years after a series of coordinated bomb blasts killed 56 people and left more than 200 injured in Ahmedabad, within 70 minutes, on July 26, 2008.

The convicts remained present before the court via video conferencing.

The accused were convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act and the Damage to Public Property Act. One accused was also convicted under the Arms Act.

They were convicted under sections 302 (Punishment for murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 121 (a) (conspiracy to wage war or attempt to wage war against the nation) and 124 (a) (sedition) among others of the IPC, and 16(1)(a)(b) of the UAPA related to punishment for a terrorist act. They attract a maximum punishment of death sentence and imprisonment till life.

The prosecution had said that it will argue for the maximum punishment. The court had concluded the trial against the 77 accused in September last year. Out of the 78 accused put on trial, one had turned approver. The police had claimed that the people associated with the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), a faction of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), were involved in the blasts.

According to the prosecution, Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists had planned the bomb blasts to avenge the 2002 post-Godhra communal riots in Gujarat. Days after the serial blasts ripped through Ahmedabad, the police recovered bombs from different parts of Surat, following which 20 FIRs were registered in Ahmedabad and 15 in Surat.

The trial was conducted after the court merged all 35 FIRs. Out of the 49 convicts, 32 are currently lodged in the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, four in a jail in Bengaluru, seven in Bhopal, three in Taloja, two in Jaipur, and one at Gaya.

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