New Delhi: The hitech bug seemed to have
bitten the Supreme Court which on Wednesday for the first time used
desktop computers to hear appeals of 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts
convicts, including 10 persons facing death penalty, and CBI`s
cross appeals for enhancement of punishment.
A bench of justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan, after
hearing the preliminary submissions of the counsel for the
convicts and Solicitor General Gopal Subrmanium appearing for
CBI, posted the appeals for final hearing from March 29.
Film star Sanjay Dutt was convicted for six years in the
bomb blast case and is now out on bail pending his appeal in
the apex court.
However, CBI has chosen not to appeal against Dutt
who was acquitted of the charge of conspiracy in the blasts
but was awarded five years imprisonment by a designated court
for being in illegal possession of arms.
For the first time, the Supreme Court used desktops
during the proceedings to browse through the over 4,000 pages
judgement of the designated TADA court which had awarded death
sentence to 11 persons, besides varying terms ranging from
three years to life imprisonment for 76 others.
The bench adjourned the hearing after the Solicitor
General sought six weeks` time to ensure English translation
of the various documents pertaining to the case from Marathi
and Hindi.
The designated court had passed the judgements between
July and October 2007 on the trial relating to the infamous
serial blasts which had rocked Mumbai on March 12, 1993
killing over 200 persons and injuring 713.
During the pendency of the appeal in the apex court,
one of the convicts Mohd Iqbal, facing death sentence, died
and hence his appeal stands abated (ended). Three other
convicts also died during the pendency of the appeal.
While the 10 convicts facing death sentence have
challenged their conviction, CBI has filed cross appeals
against over 40 convicts, seeking enhancement of their
punishment.
PTI
