“If given the death penalty, his life would come to an end in a fraction of a second and he would not realise what pain the victims and their relative are going through, and hence I am inclined to award him imprisonment for life, for the rest of his life,” said the special POTA judge while awarding Muzammil Ansari life imprisonment in the 2002-03 Mulund blasts case.
The special Prevention of Terrorism Act court judge P.R. Deshmukh on Wednesday pronounced the quantum of punishment for 10 persons who were held guilty by him on March 29. Muzammil was the only accused in this case who could have been awarded the death penalty, as the charge of planting bombs at all three places — a McDonalds on Mumbai Central railway station, Vile Parle Market and in a Karjat-bound local train (which exploded as it was reaching Mulund railway station) — was proven against him. These bombings had resulted in the deaths of 12 persons while 139 others were injured.
According to the prosecution, though Saquib Nachan was the brain behind the blasts, it could not prove the charge of conspiracy against him and, as a result, the court awarded him only 10 years’ imprisonment. Nachan has already spent around 8 years behind bars. Two other accused, Dr Wahid Ansari, whose clinic was used to prepare bombs, and Farhan Khot, were also awarded life imprisonment, but the judge specified that only Muzammil would be behind bars for rest of his life and other convicts of this case would get a set off period of the time they had already served.
Out of 13 accused in all, the court had acquitted Mohammed Nadeem Paloba, Haroon Rashid Lohar and Adnan Mulla for want of evidence; but three convicts, Mohammed Kamil, Noor Mohammed Ansari alias Imam alias Sikandar and Anwar Ali Khan, were awarded 2 years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 each. All of them have already undergone more than 2 years in prison so they would not be required to go to jail if they pay the fine.
All the other accused have been sent to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years though the judge imposed a heavy fine on all of the accused, which amounted to around Rs 12 lakh. “75 per cent from the recovered fine amount be paid to the District Legal Services Authority as aid for providing funds for the purpose of such compensation and the remaining 25 per cent must be paid to Central Railway,” the judge said.
Timeline of the case May 2001 Conspirators plan the blasts December 6, 2002 25 persons are injured in blast at McDonalds restaurant at Mumbai Central Railway station January 27, 2003 Woman dies and 32 others are injured in blast at Mungibai Market in Vile Parle (east) March 13, 2003 Blasts in Karjat-bound local train and the bomb go off when the train enters Mulund railway station. Eleven people die and 82 others are injured. April 3, 2003 Prime accused Saquib Nachan arrested. The rest of the accused were arrested thereafter. The accused challenges POTA in Supreme Court and the trial cannot be started for almost eight years. June, 19, 2014 Charges are framed against the accused on and trial commences. The prosecution examines 154 witnesses to prove the case. Defence lawyers examine 30 witnesses to prove the innocence of the accused. March 29, 2016 Judgment pronounced
Saquib Nachan, Ateef Mulla and Hasib Mulla were awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,30,000 each. Mohamed Kamil, Noor Mohammed Ansari and Anwar Ali Khan were awarded 2 years’ imprisonment and a Rs 10,000 fine each. Gulam Akbar Khotal were awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1,40,000. Farhan Khot was sent to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1,60,000 Dr Abdul Ansari was awarded life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1,40,000. Muzammil Ansari was sent to life imprisonment till his natural death and a fine of Rs 3,95,000 was imposed on him.
