Ahmedabad. A special court in Ahmedabad on Wednesday said it will start hearing arguments on February 11 to decide on the quantum of punishment for the 2008 serial bomb blasts case convicts in Ahmedabad. The hearing was adjourned on Wednesday after a defense lawyer requested the court to give some time to collect the documents before further hearing in the case.
The court here on Tuesday convicted 49 people in this case. A total of 56 people died in these blasts and more than 200 others were injured. Judge AR Patel acquitted 28 people accused of at least 20 serial blasts in Gujarat’s biggest city, giving them the benefit of doubt.
The verdict comes 13 years after the deadly blasts. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Patel told that the defense counsel filed an application in the court on Wednesday seeking three weeks’ time to collect the documents related to the convicts before hearing the quantum of sentence.
The defense will use various documents such as health and medical documents and educational qualifications, so that it can make its case firmly to get the least punishment to the culprits. “The court has given him time till tomorrow and decided to hear the matter on Friday,” Patel told reporters. During this, the court will hear the arguments of the convicts and the prosecution and then decide on the quantum of punishment. The convicts can get the maximum punishment of death sentence or life imprisonment and the prosecution will try to get the maximum punishment to the guilty.
Another special public prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt said the court has directed the defense counsel to collect necessary documents from the prisons where these prisoners are kept by Wednesday evening. The court has also directed the jail authorities to help them, he said. Brahmbhatt said, “The defense counsel sought time arguing that he was unable to contact his clients due to COVID-19.
The court said that the lawyers have presented their arguments in the matter and they are aware of the relevant documents, but it has given them one day’s time in the interest of justice. It is noteworthy that on July 26, 2008, 56 people were killed and 246 others were injured in 20 blasts in Gujarat’s largest city Ahmedabad within 70 minutes. The police had claimed that Hizbul Mujahideen and those belonging to the radical faction of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were involved in the blasts.
The police had alleged that Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists planned these blasts to avenge the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat after the Godhra incident. Many people of the minority community had died in these riots. After the serial blasts in Ahmedabad, the police had found bombs in different areas of Surat, after which 20 FIRs were registered in Ahmedabad and 15 in Surat. The matter came up for hearing after the court clubbed all the 35 FIRs together.