Supreme Court awards life imprisonment to four accused in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar Bomb Blast case, 27 years after incident
After 27 years of litigation, four accused in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar Bomb Blast Case were sentenced to life imprisonment without remission. On July 6, the Supreme Court’s three-judge bench, comprising Justice BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, upheld the convictions of two accused – Mohd Naushad and Javed Ahmed Khan – and sentenced them to life imprisonment and restored the life sentences of two former death row convicts – Mirza Nissar Hussain and Mohd Ali Bhatt – who were earlier acquitted by the Delhi High Court.
While sentencing the Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF) terrorists for the blast, the court observed that investigative and judicial authorities did not display enough vigilance. The court said, “Expeditious trial of such cases is the need of the hour, especially when it concerns national security and the common man.”
“The delay, be it for whatever reason, attributable to the judge incharge or the prosecution, has certainly compromised national interest,” the court remarked. The court noted that the case concerned a terror attack in a “prominent market in the heart of the capital city” and that the case “has not been dealt with the required degree of promptitude and attention.”
“To our great dismay, we are forced to observe that this may be due to the involvement of influential persons which is evident from the fact that out of several accused persons, only few have been put to trial. In our considered view, the matter ought to have been handled with urgency and sensitivity at all levels,” the court remarked.
The court was hearing Mohd Naushad and Javed Ahmed Khan’s appeal against their conviction and sentence, State’s plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s decision commuting Naushad’s death sentence to life imprisonment and acquitting two other death row convicts – Mirza Nissar Hussain and Mohd Ali Bhatt.
1996 Lajpat Nagar Bomb Blast Case
On May 21, 1996, a bomb blast occurred in the Central Market, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi, at 6.30 PM. This incident resulted in 13 deaths and 38 injuries, besides extensive loss of properties, both moveable and immovable. The JKIF, a terror outfit banned under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, claimed responsibility for the attack.
On July 6, the Supreme Court convicted four accused – Mohd Naushad (A3), Mirza Nissar Hussain (A5), Mohd Ali Bhatt (A6) and Javed Ahmed Khan (A9) – to life imprisonment without remission. The court also noted that the present case fell within the category of “rarest of rare cases”; however, the four accused acted at the “behest of the principal conspirators”, which is a mitigating circumstance in not awarding the death penalty. The court also observed that the accused were “part of the plan for future blasts in the nation as well.”
Notably, the police investigation revealed that A11 to A17 – JKIF chief Bilal Ahmed Beg (A11), Juber (A12), Riyaz Ahmed Sheikh (A13), Mohd Ashraf Bhatta (A14), Javed Kariwar (A15), Ibrahim Abdul Razak Menan @ Tiger Menon (A16) and Daud Hassan Sheikh Kaskar (A17) – masterminded the conspiracy to cause and carry out acts of terrorism and disruptive activities in India. It was also reported that JKIF chief Beg conspired with Pakistan’s ISI to orchestrate the terror attack. The court noted that the seven accused (A11 to A17) were declared ‘Proclaimed Offenders’ and “never faced any trial.”
“In view of the conspiracy, as discussed above, and the facts at hand, including mitigating circumstances as against the punishment of death penalty, we consider it a fit case to award life imprisonment without remission, extending to natural life of A3, A5, A6 and A9,” the court said. The court set aside the Delhi High Court’s judgement dated November 22, 2012.
“In view of the severity of the offence resulting in deaths of innocent persons and the role played by each accused person, all these accused persons are sentenced to imprisonment for life, without remission, extending to natural life,” the court held. The court further directed that if on bail, the accused – Mirza Nissar Hussain and Mohd Ali Bhatt – must immediately surrender before the court.
Case History
In April 2010, the trial court awarded the death penalty to three of the six convicts – Mohammad Naushad, Mohammed Ali Bhatt and Mirza Nissar Hussain – noting that their involvement in the terror attack warranted capital punishment. The court convicted Javed Ahmed Khan to life imprisonment, while the other two were convicted on milder charges – Farooq Ahmed Khan and Farida Dar – and released given the time served during the trial.
Four convicts moved the Delhi High Court against the trial court’s verdict. In 2012, the Delhi High Court rapped the police for ‘grave prosecution lapses’. It said, “The nature of grave prosecution lapses, in regard to various issues such as lack of proof connecting some of the accused with the bomb incident, failure to hold TIP (Test Identification Parade) of articles and the accused…not recording the statements of vital witnesses…underline not only its lapses and inefficiencies, but also throw up a question mark as to the nature and truthfulness of the evidence produced.”
The Delhi High Court’s division bench, comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and GP Mittal, acquitted two death row convicts while commuting the death sentence of Mohammad Naushad to life imprisonment. The court also upheld the life sentence awarded to Javed Ahmed Khan.
The two convicts later moved the Supreme Court to challenge their life imprisonment sentence and conviction. The State also filed a special leave petition to restore the death sentence imposed on the accused Kashmiri militants. In 2013, the court issued notice in appeals before it, and in 2016, the case was placed before a three-judge bench.
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