Raj Kumar Makkad (Adv P & H High Court Chandigarh) 13 December 2011

2003 mumbai blasts: verdict on death sentence deferred

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has deferred its judgement on confirmation of death sentence awarded to three LeT activists in the 2003 Mumbai twin blasts that claimed 52 lives.

The new date for the verdict has not been fixed yet.

The arguments in the case had concluded on December 12 at a special hearing by a division bench of Justices AM Khanvilkar and PD Kode after which the court reserved its verdict for December 12.

Ashrat Ansari (32), Hanif Sayed Anees (46) and his wife Fehmida Sayed (43) were, in July 2009, found guilty by a POTA court of planting powerful bombs in two taxis which exploded at the iconic Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25, 2003.

The trio had on July 28, around a month before the blasts, planted a bomb in a municipal bus in suburban Ghatkopar which killed two persons.

The conspiracy had been hatched by Hanif, Ashrat, Nasir, a Hyderabad resident, who was later killed in a police encounter, and some Pakistani nationals owing allegiance to LeT in Dubai.

SOURCE: The Times of India