Patna: New Delhi, January 7 (ABN / Agency)
The Supreme Court of India has dismissed the appeals filed by the accused and the appellant against the decision of the Patna High Court, which sentenced the accused to life imprisonment and 30 years in the Gandhi Maidan bomb blast case in Patna, the capital of Bihar. On one hand, the accused challenged the High Court's decision, while on the other hand, the state government appealed to the court to uphold the decision of the Sessions Court, which had sentenced the accused to death.

A two-member bench of the Supreme Court of India, comprising Justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh, heard the arguments of the parties and dismissed all the appeals challenging the Patna High Court's decision. The two-member bench said it did not want to interfere with the High Court's decision, although Additional Solicitor General of India Raja Thakre told the court that the accused were sentenced to death by the Sessions Court for a serious case like terrorism, which was commuted to 30 years by the Patna High Court. Raja Thakre further informed the court that the accused had carried out bomb blasts in both Patna and Bodh Gaya, and therefore, they should be sentenced to death.

On the other hand, Senior Advocate Anshuman, representing the accused on behalf of the Jamiat Ulema Maharashtra (Arshad Madani) Legal Aid Committee, told the court that the Sessions Court and the Patna High Court had sentenced the accused based on weak evidence, which needs to be reviewed. He further told the court that the accused were sentenced solely on the basis of confessional statements, and no other evidence was found against them except for some Islamic literature and a few allegedly controversial documents.

After hearing the arguments of the parties, Justice MM Sundresh said that the court was not issuing a notice on the appeals filed by the accused and the appellant and was dismissing them. The Supreme Court heard the case five times over the past six months and finally dismissed all the appeals today.

It is worth mentioning that on September 11 last year, a two-member bench of the Patna High Court had commuted the death sentence of four accused, who were awarded death penalty by the lower court, to 30 years of imprisonment. The Patna High Court had commuted the death sentences of accused Haider Ali Ansari, Mujeebullah Ansari, Numan Sultan Ansari, and Imtiyaz Ansari Kamaluddin to 30 years, against which the state government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, which was heard today. The petition filed on behalf of the accused was prepared by Advocates Arif Ali, Muzahid Ahmed, and Wasif Rehman Khan, under the guidance of a senior advocate, and was filed in the Supreme Court by Advocate-on-Record Chand Qureshi.

Apparently, a bomb blast occurred on October 23, 2013, in the famous historical Gandhi Maidan in Patna, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was about to address a public rally. Six people were killed and 90 others were injured in the blast. The investigation of the blast was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which arrested 10 Muslim youths from Bihar, Jharkhand, and other neighboring states and filed a case against them under sections 307, 326, 212, 121(A), 120(B), 34 of the Indian Penal Code, and sections 3, 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, and sections 16, 18, 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.