Mumbai: Bombay high court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Saquib Nachan, seeking a set-off for around three years which could have paved the way for his release from prison. Counting these three years as imprisonment would have resulted in completion of his 10-year-imprisonment meted out by the POTA court in the 2002 Mulund blasts case.
Advocate Sudeep Pasbola on behalf of Nachan argued that after arrest in the Mulund blasts case, Nachan spent more than seven years in jail as an under trial. He was later granted bail but the local police again arrested him in an attempt to murder case. When he was behind bars, the special POTA court, which was conducting trial in the Mulund blasts case, issued summons and sought that Nachan be produced before it. Later, the POTA court kept giving him subsequent dates till the trial concluded. According to the petition, since the POTA court’s summons till the time of conclusion of the trial, Nachan spent around three years in jail and hence, this period be counted as set-off period to complete his 10-year imprisonment sentence.
The government’s contention was that even if Nachan would have been on bail, he would have had to attend court proceedings and hence, this period should not be counted as set-off period in the POTA case. After hearing all the arguments, the division bench headed by justice Ranjit More on Friday dismissed Nachan’s application.
