The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Date for pronouncement of blasts case sentences to be announced on October 10

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Thursday, Oct 04, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Date for pronouncement of blasts case sentences to be announced on October 10

Staff Reporter

Around 70 accused face major charges
Sentences for minor charges on October 8

Coimbatore: The Judge of the Special Court for Bomb Blast Cases K. Uthirapathy on Wednesday said that the date for pronouncement of sentences in respect of those found guilty of major charges including conspiracy would be announced on October 10.

The 70 accused facing major charges include Syed Ahmed Basha and Mohammed Ansari.

The serial blasts of February 14, 1998 left over 50 dead and over 250 injured. Of the 166 accused, the court found 70 guilty of serious charges and eight not guilty. Five found guilty of minor charges were in judicial custody because of the other pending cases and convictions while 83 were found guilty of minor charges.

The court on September 28 had already pronounced the sentences for 41 accused, sentencing them to rigorous imprisonment ranging from seven to nine years (with sentences for each offence running concurrently). With the court setting off the trial period against conviction, all of them were released. For the remaining 42 accused found guilty of minor charges, the court is scheduled to pronounce sentences on October 8. On Wednesday, the fifth accused Bashid accused the police, the State and judiciary and even the Prison Department of not only failing to protect the minorities but also showing a distinctive discrimination. The consequences in Coimbatore were only because of these failures to protect the minorities from religious forces of the majority community.

Counsel’s plea

Defence counsel S.K. Raghavan (representing the third accused Tajudeen), citing a Supreme Court ruling and relying on section 235 (ii) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.PC) said: “The proper sentence should be on the basis of amalgam of many factors such as the nature of the offence, the circumstances — extenuating or aggravating — of the offence, prior criminal record, if any, of the offender, age, employment record, background, possibility of return of the offender to normal life in the community, possibility of treatment or training of the offender and the possibility that the sentence may serve as a deterrent to crime by the offender or by others.”

He said the amalgam of these factors should be the basis for measuring the parameters of punishment and sought humaneness while handing out sentence.

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