Gujarat Govt told to decide on Haren Pandya’s remission plea

The Gujarat High Court has ordered the state government to take a decision within six months on the remission plea filed by a shooter sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2003 Haren Pandya murder case.

Mohammad Ashgar Ali, the shooter hailing from Hyderabad, was arrested a few days after Pandya, the former Gujarat home minister, was shot dead on March 26, 2003, in Ahmedabad.

He had approached the high court, stating that the government was not taking any decision on his plea for premature release made in 2025 after completing 14 years in prison, claiming his conduct in jail had been good. Justice MR Mengdey on June 17 directed the state to decide on Ali’s remission plea, preferably within six months from the date of receipt of the order.

“From the jail remarks submitted on record, it appears that the process for consideration of the case of the petitioner for grant of remission is underway and the opinion from the advisory committee has also been called for, which has been received and the same shall be put up before the concerned authority in the near future,” the court stated in its order.

In view of these aspects, the authority concerned shall take an appropriate decision, in accordance with law, on the application submitted by the petitioner for grant of remission, as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of six months from the date of receipt of the order, it said, while disposing of Ali’s application.

The probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) showed Pandya was killed to avenge the 2002 communal riots. Ali was among 18 persons charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) for his murder. A CBI court awarded life imprisonment to Ali in 2007.

In 2019, the high court acquitted all the accused, including Ali.

However, following the CBI’s appeal, the Supreme Court overturned the HC order and directed them to surrender.