The Supreme Court on Wednesday sentenced to life a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist from Pakistan who was acquitted by a TADA court for his role in a 1995 bomb blast at a Republic Day function in Jammu.
Reversing the trial court verdict pronounced in 2009 that acquitted the terrorist, the SC felt that the confession by the accused made to the investigating officials was sufficient proof to convict the mercenary. The CBI, which appealed against the acquittal order of dreaded militant Ghulam Nabi, requested the apex court to impose life term on Nabi on three separate charges.
This would have meant the convict will serve three consecutive life terms and the State will not be able to grant him remission after 14 years. But the apex Bench of Justices AK Sikri and UU lalit, which convicted the accused in July this year, disagreed with the prosecution. “He has only one life and is already behind bars for the past 20 years,” the court said.
The Bench had two options to choose from — death or life. To decide the quantum of punishment against Nabi, the Bench had fixed the matter on Wednesday ordering the accused to be presented in court. Even after his acquittal, he had remained in jail as he had a host of cases against him.
Escorted by two Delhi Police personnel, the convict who wore a white pathani suit and a skull cap appeared in the court. The 76-year-old was represented by amicus curiae Dushyant Parashar. Parashar argued that the case did not deserve death penalty due to lack of corroborative evidence.
But the CBI pointed out that the incident was gruesome as he carried out three successive blasts at the Maulana Azad Memorial Stadium in Jammu during the Republic Day function.
Nabi was nailed for engineering the blasts, but the trial court acquitted him on technical ground that the confession statement was recorded in Hindi, a language which could not be known by a Hizbul operative from Pakistan. The CBI claimed that the probe revealed that the real target was Governor KV Krishna Rao, who had a narrow escape.
After hearing the arguments on both sides, the Bench ruled out death since the only evidence to convict him was his confessional statement. The Bench said, “There is no other evidence to convict him under TADA. He has already undergone 14 years imprisonment. Considering the totality of circumstances, it is not a case for awarding extreme penalty but life sentence.” The court also recorded the fact that another Indian militant Wasim Ahmed Malik, a co-accused in the case, was acquitted in the case and his acquittal upheld by the apex court in July this year. Moreover, amicus Parashar had pointed out that Nabi suffered from several ailments.
At the end, Nabi told court that he wished to spend the rest of his life in a Kashmir jail as the climate suited him. But the Bench left that choice to the Centre to decide where he should be lodged.