New Delhi: As CBI’s special counsel C Natarajan argued on the quantum of punishment for those accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case on Thursday, he called for the maximum punishment of death penalty for the conspirators.
Natarajan urged the special court , which begins hearing arguments on quantum of sentencing on Thursday, to award death penalty to all but three of the 47 people convicted for being party to the conspiracy behind the 1993 serial blasts in which 257 people were killed and 750 injured.
The special TADA court of Judge P D Kode had convicted 100 of the 123 accused in the case that had gone on for the past 14 years. Of them, 47 were convicted for being party to the conspiracy as well as other charges under TADA and different laws.
Most of 47 accused were held guilty under TADA and face minimum life imprisonment to maximum capital sentence. The special court divided the 100 found guilty into three categories.
CBI counsel and special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that the first category will comprise 47 accused held guilty for criminal conspiracy to commit murder and terror acts and all those who planted the bombs at the 12 locations on March 12, 1993.
Forty-four of those held guilty for committing preparatory acts and for facilitating terror acts before the bombings, including weapons training and smuggling of arms, ammunitions and explosives fall into the second category.
"The third category would include nine accused guilty under the Arms Act for illegal possession of weapons and the Customs Act for allowing illegal entry and transportation of arms and RDX smuggled into the country by the blast masterminds," Nikam said.
Meanwhile, the relatives of those convicted appealed the trial judge to treat all convicts at par with actor Sanjay Dutt, who falls in the third category.
On November 28, 2006, the special TADA court had dropped charges under TADA against Dutt and convicted him under the provisions of the Arms Act for being in possession of three AK-56 rifles and one 9 mm pistol.
He has been given time till February 20 to surrender to the court. "Submissions regarding the punishment for Sanjay Dutt and the guilty Memon family members are already over," Nikam explained.
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