Delhi High Court Denies Bail for Alleged Indian Mujahideen Members Linked to 2008 Bomb Blasts
Three members of the terrorist group Indian Mujahideen, who are allegedly connected to the 2008 series of bomb blasts across India, were recently denied bail by the Delhi High Court. Two of the men’s petitions, Mubeen Kadar Shaikh and Saquib Nisar, were denied by a Division Bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Shalinder Kaur.
A third accused person, Mansoor Ashgar Peerbhoy, was denied bail by a different bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain. After taking into account the accusations made against the defendants, the court determined that they should not be granted bail.
On the other hand, it requested that the trial court, which has been hearing the case against the three accused every Saturday, wrap up the trial by hearing the case at least twice daily. It stated that the accused, who have been detained since 2008, have the right to a prompt trial.
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“This Court prior to dictating of the present appeal raised a query to learned Additional Public Prosecutor for State with regard to specific stage of the trial. We are informed that total 497 witnesses were cited, out of which 198 witnesses were dropped and so far 282 witnesses have already been examined and only 17 witnesses are left to be examined. We are informed that the learned Special Court is conducting proceedings on every Saturday so as to expedite conclusion of trial, which is already at its fag end. However, in the peculiar facts of the present case and keeping in view that the appellant is behind bars since the 2008, we direct the concerned Special Court to conclude the trial in the present matter by taking it up at least twice a week,” the Court ordered.
Details Emerge in Case Against Alleged Indian Mujahideen Members
2008 saw the arrest of Shaikh and Peerboy on charges that they belonged to the Indian Mujahideen’s media cell. With the subject line “Message of Death” and claims of “intense, accurate, and successive bomb attacks” in the nation precisely five minutes after the mail, they are said to have sent the message to a number of media outlets in Pakistan and India.
Nisar was charged with masterminding a plot involving other individuals to carry out a series of explosions in Delhi that claimed 26 lives. The prosecution claims that Nisar was given the assignment to stay in a Batla House apartment and take his associates’ calls in order to deceive the investigating agencies.
Mubeen Kadar Shaikh was represented by senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, advocate Siddharth Sunil, and advocate Aditya Wadhwa.
Saquib Nisar and Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy were represented by advocates Mehmood Pracha, Rudro Chatterjee, Sanawar Choudhary, Jatin Bhatt, Yashovardhan Oza, Faisal Moiuddin, Mohd Hasan, RHA Shikandar, Harshit S. Gahlot, Mohd. Shameem, and Nujhat Naseem. The State was represented by additional public prosecutors Tarang Srivastava and Ritesh Kumar Bahri.
