Court on Ahmedabad blast case: Convicts highly skilled, ‘man-eater leopard’

It is for the first time in the country that the maximum number of death sentences (38) were handed down by a court in one go.

The special court designated for a speedy trial in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts that awarded death penalty to 38 of the 49 convicts in its order said that they deserve the death sentence as allowing them to remain in society is like releasing a “man-eater leopard” in the public.

A copy of the order was made available on Saturday. The court made some strong observations about the case and against the convicts.

The court noted that the motive of the accused was to “overthrow the (state) government and to arouse anger of the people against (then) Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and his ministers and MLAs”. The judge also noted in the order that the accused chose “areas with a higher Hindu population” to execute the bombings.

In the 7,015-page judgement made public on Saturday, additional sessions judge AR Patel observed that “death sentence is the only and ultimate punishment for such terror-minded accused so as to ensure the country’s safety, peace and security” (sic).

The special court on Friday sentenced to death 38 members of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) for the Ahmedabad bombings which killed 56 people and injured over 200 on July 26, 2008. It also gave life terms to another 11 IM convicts in the case.

It is for the first time in the country that the maximum number of death sentences were handed down by a court in one go.

The court observed that there was no need for the government to keep the convicts in jail, especially those who said they believed only in their God and none others, and that there is no jail in the country that can keep them lodged forever.

“If such people are allowed to remain in the society, it will be like releasing a man-eater leopard in public. Such convicts are like a man-eater leopard that eats innocents in society including children, youth, elderly, women, men, newborns, and people of different caste and communities,” the judge noted.

The court also stated that in its opinion, the death sentence will be reasonable as the case falls in the “rarest of the rare” category.

The order reads further, “Government and private properties worth crores of rupees were damaged. The event created terror and fear in the minds of people in Ahmedabad, Surat and all over Gujarat. They not only harbored anti-national sentiments but also committed such acts. These accused have no respect for a constitutionally elected government.”

The investigators in the case admitted to have recovered no explosive or weapons from the accused at the time of their arrest, which the judge said was due to their late arrests.