Gujarat High Court upholds death penalty for 38 convicts in 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case
The Gujarat High Court upheld the 2022 special court verdict awarding the death penalty to 38 convicts and life imprisonment to 11 others in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, one of India's deadliest terror attacks. The court dismissed all appeals filed by the convicts, reaffirming the punishments awarded by the trial court.
A division bench of Justices A.Y. Kogje and Samir J. Dave delivered the judgment after hearing appeals against the convictions and sentences handed down by the special court in February 2022. A detailed copy of the High Court's order is awaited.
The serial blasts took place on July 26, 2008, when 21 coordinated explosions ripped through Ahmedabad within about 70 minutes, killing 56 people and injuring over 240 others. Several of the blasts targeted public buses, while two explosions occurred at hospitals treating victims of the initial attacks, intensifying the devastation.
The trial court had convicted 49 accused, most of whom were linked to the banned terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen. It sentenced 38 of them to death and 11 to life imprisonment, while acquitting 28 others due to lack of evidence. The High Court has now confirmed those convictions and sentences.
The High Court also directed the Gujarat government to enhance compensation for victims, ordering ₹10 lakh for the families of those killed, ₹5 lakh for those who suffered grievous injuries and ₹1 lakh for victims with simple injuries.
The verdict marks a significant milestone in a case that has spanned nearly 18 years and is among the largest terror trials in the country's judicial history.
