A special court on Tuesday said it will pronounce on February 18 the quantum of sentence against 49 convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blast case. The arguments on the quantum of sentence concluded on Tuesday, and the court of special judge A R Patel has kept the matter of judgement for February 18, special public prosecutor Amit Patel said.
The special court had last week convicted 49 people and acquitted 28 others, more than 13 years after a series of bomb blasts killed 56 people and left over 200 injured in Ahmedabad, within 70 minutes, on July 26, 2008. "The hearing on the quantum of sentence has concluded, and now the matter is for judgement. The court has said it will pronounce the judgement on February 18," Patel said.
The defence on Tuesday concluded its argument on the quantum of sentence. On Monday, the prosecution had concluded its argument, seeking maximum punishment for the convicts. The convicts attract a maximum punishment of death sentence and imprisonment for life under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The accused have been convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, UAPA, Explosive Substances Act and Damage to Public Property Act. One accused was also convicted under the Arms Act. They were convicted under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 121 (a) (conspiracy to wage war or attempt to wage war against the nation) and 124 (a) (sedition) among others of the IPC, and 16(1)(a)(b) of the UAPA related to punishment for a terrorist act.
The court had concluded a trial against 77 accused in September last year. Of the 78 accused put on trial, one had turned an approver. The police had claimed that people associated with the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), a faction of radicals of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), were involved in the blasts.
It was alleged that the IM terrorists had planned these blasts to avenge the 2002 post-Godhra riots. Days after the serial blasts in Ahmedabad, the police had recovered bombs from different parts of Surat, following which 20 FIRs were registered in Ahmedabad and 15 in Surat. The trial was conducted after the court merged all 35 FIRs.
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