Rajasthan
Jaipur Blasts: Jaipur Blasts: Court Allows Ats To Take Ex-adg, Scribe As Witnesses | Jaipur News
Jaipur: A special court dealing the Jaipur serial blasts case of 2008 on Tuesday allowed the investigating agency ATS to add then additional director general of police (ADG) A K Jain and mediaperson Prashant Tandon as witnesses in the matter related to diffusing of ninth live bomb recovered from an old city market and allowed a supplementary chargesheet to be taken on record.
The court, however, rejected the application of the accused who requested that they be freed of the charges against them on the basis of their acquittal in eight related cases over the serial blasts by the Rajasthan High Court in March.
“The court has accepted the ATS applications, including taking Jain and Tandon as witnesses and accepting the supplementary chargesheet,” said Minhajul Haq, counsel for the accused.
At the same time, an application was presented on behalf of the accused saying that they have been acquitted by the HC in eight cases related to serial blasts.
“The court has rejected our application that a separate trial for the 9th live bomb that was diffused can’t be continued against the accused on the basis of the same facts and witnesses,” said Haq. Haq, who presented the application on behalf of the accused, argued that the HC acquitted the accused in eight cases. “The police have deliberately implicated them in the case of the live bomb. Under Section 300 of CrPC, if the accused have been acquitted in any case, then another case cannot be initiated against the accused on the basis of the same facts and witnesses. We have pleaded that there is a provision under the Constitution of India (Article 20 (2)) that a person cannot be punished twice for the same crime. In this case, the special court had already sentenced the accused but later the HC acquitted them,” he added.
On December 20, 2019, the special court had awarded capital punishment to accused Saifur Rahman, Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Sarwar Azmi and one more person whom the HC later found to be a minor at the time of the blasts on May 13, 2008. At the same time, one accused Shahbaz Ahmed was acquitted. After this, while giving its verdict on the appeal of the accused, on March 29, 2023, the High Court had acquitted all the accused. Eighty people were killed and nearly 170 were injured in the serial bomb blasts.
The court, however, rejected the application of the accused who requested that they be freed of the charges against them on the basis of their acquittal in eight related cases over the serial blasts by the Rajasthan High Court in March.
“The court has accepted the ATS applications, including taking Jain and Tandon as witnesses and accepting the supplementary chargesheet,” said Minhajul Haq, counsel for the accused.
At the same time, an application was presented on behalf of the accused saying that they have been acquitted by the HC in eight cases related to serial blasts.
“The court has rejected our application that a separate trial for the 9th live bomb that was diffused can’t be continued against the accused on the basis of the same facts and witnesses,” said Haq. Haq, who presented the application on behalf of the accused, argued that the HC acquitted the accused in eight cases. “The police have deliberately implicated them in the case of the live bomb. Under Section 300 of CrPC, if the accused have been acquitted in any case, then another case cannot be initiated against the accused on the basis of the same facts and witnesses. We have pleaded that there is a provision under the Constitution of India (Article 20 (2)) that a person cannot be punished twice for the same crime. In this case, the special court had already sentenced the accused but later the HC acquitted them,” he added.
On December 20, 2019, the special court had awarded capital punishment to accused Saifur Rahman, Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Sarwar Azmi and one more person whom the HC later found to be a minor at the time of the blasts on May 13, 2008. At the same time, one accused Shahbaz Ahmed was acquitted. After this, while giving its verdict on the appeal of the accused, on March 29, 2023, the High Court had acquitted all the accused. Eighty people were killed and nearly 170 were injured in the serial bomb blasts.
