Mumbai: The Bombay High court on Tuesday rejected
the bail plea of two accused in the 2006 Aurangabad Arms Haul
case and directed the special court set up under the stringent
Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to
expeditiously conduct the trial.
The duo pleaded that the trial has been pending since
2006 and the 21 accused were in custody.
The two -- Abdul Khan and Shareef Ahmed -- had moved the
High Court by filing a petition from prison.
Both pleaded that they have been in custody since their
arrest in 2006 and the trial had not progressed. There is only
one judge hearing the cases registered by Anti-Terrorism Squad
and prayed that another special judge was needed to hear the
matters expeditiously.
Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thackeray, opposed their
plea, saying "as per Government notification special judge Y D
Shinde has been currently hearing the serial train blast case
of 2006 on a daily basis and other trials such as Aurangabad
arms haul case would follow in chronological order.
The petitioners argued that "the charges in the case had
not been framed till date and the trial has been prolonged by
the prosecution for no valid reason".
Prosecutor Thackeray, however, opposed the argument
saying "Once the train blast trial is over the Aurangabad Arms
haul case would be taken up".
Accordingly, Justice V K Tahailramani asked the
prosecution to take steps to ensure the Aurangabad Arms haul
trial was conducted expeditiously.
PTI
