The Delhi High Court has refused to grant bail tothree members of Indian Mujahideen, who were arrested for their alleged involvement in a series of bomb blasts that rocked different parts of the country in 2008.
The order was passed by the Division Bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Shalinder Kaur on petitions filed by accused Mubeen Kadar Shaikh and Saquib Nisar.
In a similar case, the Bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain denied bail to the third accused in the case, Mansoor Ashgar Peerbhoy.
Considering the allegations against the accused, the High Court concluded that they did not deserve to be released on bail.
During the course of hearings, the High Court asked the Additional Public Prosecutor, appearing for the State, about the specific stage of the trial.
The APP apprised the Benches that a total of 497 witnesses were cited, out of which 198 witnesses were dropped. So far, 282 witnesses have been examined and 17 were left to be examined.
In order to expedite the conclusion of the trial, the Special Court was conducting the proceedings every Saturday, and it was already at its fag end, added the APP.
The High Court then directed the trial court to conclude the trial at the earliest by taking up the matter at least twice a week.
It noted that the accused had the right to a speedy trial, while considering that the accused have been in custody since 2008.
Shaikh and Peerboy were arrested in 2008 for being members of the media cell of IM.
They were accused of sending the message to several media organisations of India and Pakistan with the heading “Message of Death” and claiming “intense, accurate and successive bomb attacks” in the country exactly five minutes after the mail.
Nisar was accused of hatching the conspiracy with other accused for serial blasts in Delhi, which claimed 26 lives.
The prosecution contended that Nisar was assigned the task of remaining in a flat at Batla House and answering the phone calls of his associates so that they could bluff the investigating agencies.
Mubeen Kadar Shaikh was represented by Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, along with Advocates Siddharth Sunil and Aditya Wadhwa.
Advocates Mehmood Pracha, Rudro Chatterjee, Sanawar Choudhary, Jatin Bhatt, Yashovardhan Oza, Faisal Moiuddin, Mohd Hasan, RHA Shikandar, Harshit S Gahlot, Mohd. Shameem and Nujhat Naseem appeared for Saquib Nisar and Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy.
The State was represented by Additional Public Prosecutors Tarang Srivastava and Ritesh Kumar Bahri.