08-01-2007, 11:12 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Pioneer, 1 August 2007
<b>Curtains down </b>
TN Raghunatha reports on the last day in the TADA court which tried and sentenced the 1993 blasts accused
With the TADA court sentencing the last of three convicts, including Sanjay Dutt, and setting free another convict, the prolonged trial in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case ended on Tuesday.
The trial of the 1993 Mumbai blasts, which claimed 257 lives, left 713 others injured and damaged property worth Rs 27 crore, was one of the most comprehensive trials held in the world's judicial history - considered even bigger than the Nuremberg trial. The trial was conducted by a TADA court specially set up inside the high-security Arthur Road prison in south-central Mumbai.
"I have brought the mammoth case to an end," said a visibly excited designated TADA court Judge PD Kode, as he handed out last set of sentences in the 1993 blasts case, involving as many as 100 convicts.
Judge Kode was all praise for the Mumbai Police, which investigated the 1993 blasts first, the CBI, which took over the investigations later, and the prosecution for their remarkable performance in their respective areas of work. "Offences under terror law are very difficult to be investigated, considering the difficulties. I must say all the accused based in India were nabbed and brought to trial," Judge Kode said.
"I must say... For every citizen, the nation comes first, laws of the nation are to be respected .... they must be respected. If you don't, you cannot expect to be called a moral person," Judge Kode observed during the course of delivering last set of sentences.
Known for his integrity and a matter-of-fact approach, Judge Kode began presiding over the TADA court trying the accused in the 1993 blasts, on February 29, 1996 . He replaced equally strict Judge JN Patel, who had heard the trial up to February 12, 1996, before being promoted as a judge in the Bombay High Court and posted at Nagpur. Patel had by then completed pre-trial procedures.
<b>Of the 123 who faced the trial, 100 were convicted and 23 acquitted. Of the 100 convicted, Judge Kode awarded capital punishment to 12, life imprisonment to 20, 14-year sentences to three, 13-year term to one, 10-year sentence to 12, nine-year sentences to four, eight-year sentences to four, seven-year sentences to seven, six-year sentences to 15, five-year sentences to 15, three-year sentences to five, two-year sentence to one convict. </b>
Only one of the 100 convicts - that is Russi Mulla - was set free by the court by giving him relief under the Probation of Offenders Act (POA).
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that he was more than satisfied that the 1993 blasts trial had finally ended. "I have been a part of the trial for the last 14 years. The trial getting over means that I am being released from the Aurthur Road prison (where the trial was conducted) after 14-long years," Nikam remarked tongue-in-cheek.
<b>Judge Kode heard over 600 witnesses in a trial that ended in mid 2003. During the trial, the TADA court recorded 13,000 pages of evidence, including 4,000 exhibits. It also took cognisance of statements made by the accused that ran into 9,000 pages. </b>
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<b>Curtains down </b>
TN Raghunatha reports on the last day in the TADA court which tried and sentenced the 1993 blasts accused
With the TADA court sentencing the last of three convicts, including Sanjay Dutt, and setting free another convict, the prolonged trial in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case ended on Tuesday.
The trial of the 1993 Mumbai blasts, which claimed 257 lives, left 713 others injured and damaged property worth Rs 27 crore, was one of the most comprehensive trials held in the world's judicial history - considered even bigger than the Nuremberg trial. The trial was conducted by a TADA court specially set up inside the high-security Arthur Road prison in south-central Mumbai.
"I have brought the mammoth case to an end," said a visibly excited designated TADA court Judge PD Kode, as he handed out last set of sentences in the 1993 blasts case, involving as many as 100 convicts.
Judge Kode was all praise for the Mumbai Police, which investigated the 1993 blasts first, the CBI, which took over the investigations later, and the prosecution for their remarkable performance in their respective areas of work. "Offences under terror law are very difficult to be investigated, considering the difficulties. I must say all the accused based in India were nabbed and brought to trial," Judge Kode said.
"I must say... For every citizen, the nation comes first, laws of the nation are to be respected .... they must be respected. If you don't, you cannot expect to be called a moral person," Judge Kode observed during the course of delivering last set of sentences.
Known for his integrity and a matter-of-fact approach, Judge Kode began presiding over the TADA court trying the accused in the 1993 blasts, on February 29, 1996 . He replaced equally strict Judge JN Patel, who had heard the trial up to February 12, 1996, before being promoted as a judge in the Bombay High Court and posted at Nagpur. Patel had by then completed pre-trial procedures.
<b>Of the 123 who faced the trial, 100 were convicted and 23 acquitted. Of the 100 convicted, Judge Kode awarded capital punishment to 12, life imprisonment to 20, 14-year sentences to three, 13-year term to one, 10-year sentence to 12, nine-year sentences to four, eight-year sentences to four, seven-year sentences to seven, six-year sentences to 15, five-year sentences to 15, three-year sentences to five, two-year sentence to one convict. </b>
Only one of the 100 convicts - that is Russi Mulla - was set free by the court by giving him relief under the Probation of Offenders Act (POA).
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that he was more than satisfied that the 1993 blasts trial had finally ended. "I have been a part of the trial for the last 14 years. The trial getting over means that I am being released from the Aurthur Road prison (where the trial was conducted) after 14-long years," Nikam remarked tongue-in-cheek.
<b>Judge Kode heard over 600 witnesses in a trial that ended in mid 2003. During the trial, the TADA court recorded 13,000 pages of evidence, including 4,000 exhibits. It also took cognisance of statements made by the accused that ran into 9,000 pages. </b>
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