2008 Ahmedabad Serial bomb blast case: Special court awards death penalty to 38, life imprisonment to 11 convicts.
In Gujarat, a Special designated court in Ahmedabad has awarded death penalty to 38 convicts in 2008 Ahmedabad Serial bomb blast case which claimed 56 lives and injured more than 200 people. Pronouncing the quantum of punishment today in the rarest of the rare case, Special judge A.R. Patel has sentenced 11 convicts to life imprisonment till death.
The punishment was awarded under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Explosive Substances Act, and the Damage to Public Property Act. The Special Court has also ordered compensation for the family of victims.
The court has ordered one lakh rupees compensation to the families of the victims, while the compensation of 50 thousand rupees to the seriously injured persons in this serial bomb blast case. This is for the first time in the country, in which the maximum 38 convicts have been awarded death penalties.A court in India has sentenced 38 people to death and ordered life in prison for 11 others over a series of bomb blasts in 2008 that killed dozens in the western city of Ahmedabad.
The court had on February 8 convicted 49 people over the coordinated attacks that killed 56 and wounded 200, launching shrapnel through markets, buses and other public places in Gujarat state’s commercial hub.
Nearly 80 people were charged overall for the attacks but 28 were acquitted. The convicted were all found guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy.
Judge A R Patel on Friday ordered the punishment after the prosecution pressed for the death sentence describing the incident as a “rarest of rare case” in which innocent lives were lost.
A defence lawyer said they would appeal the verdict in a higher court.
“We had sought lenient sentences for the convicts as they have already spent more than 13 years in prison,” Khalid Shaikh told Reuters news agency. “But the court awarded death to the majority of them. We will definitely go for appeal.”
A group calling itself the “Indian Mujahideen” had claimed responsibility for the blasts on July 26, 2008. It said the act was revenge for 2002 religious riots in the state that left some 1,000 people – mostly Muslims – dead.
The marathon trial lasted nearly a decade, with more than 1,100 witnesses called to testify. It was dragged out by procedural delays, including a legal battle by four of the accused to retract confessions.
