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Maharashtra

7/11 Mumbai Train Blasts Case: 17 Years On, Bombay High Court Yet To Commence Hearing In Death Penalty Confirmation Of Convicts

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Exactly 17 years after seven bombs ripped through Mumbai’s local trains killing over 180 people and injuring several on July 11 during the evening rush hour, the hearing in the death confirmations of four accused is yet to commence before the Bombay High Court. 

7/11 Bombings

On July 11, 2006, seven blasts occurred in a span of 15 minutes in local trains on the Western Railways. The first bomb blast took place around 6:20 pm in a Churchgate-Borivali train, when it was between Khar and Santacruz stations. Another bomb exploded around the same time in a local train between Bandra and Khar. Five more explosions were reported from Jogeshwari, Mahim, Mira Road-Bhayandar, Matunga-Mahim and Borivali. 

The probe was handed over to the state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) which arrested 13 persons allegedly belonging to the Indian Mujahideen.

Special MCOCA court awarded death sentence to five convicts 

In September 2015, the special MCOCA court had awarded death sentences to five convicts and life imprisonment to seven others. A death sentence awarded by the trial court has to be confirmed by the HC.

Soon, the state government approached the HC seeking confirmation of the death sentence of four convicts – Mohammad Faisal Shaikh, Ehtesham Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan, Asif Khan, all of them bomb planters. They have also filed an appeal against their conviction and death sentence.

One of the bomb planters died due to COVID

Kamal Ahamed Ansari, one of the bomb planters who was awarded death sentence by the MCOCA court died due to COVID-19 in Nagpur Prison in 2022. So the case against him stands abated (dropped). 

The other seven – Tanvir Ahmed Ansari, Mohammad Majid Shafi, Shaikh Alam Shaikh, Mohd Sajid Ansari, Muzzammil Shaikh, Soheil Mehmood Shaikh and Zamir Ahmad Shaikh – have also approached the HC challenging their life imprisonment.

Since 2015, confirmation pleas heard by nine different benches

Since 2015, the confirmation pleas and appeals have come up for hearing before  nine different benches. However, they have not been heard. 

It was last listed before a division bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and PD Naik, which refused itself from hearing the case. 

Prosecution & Defence Counsel will have to re-read 179 volumes of papers before court

Special public prosecutor Raja Thakare had informed the HC in January 2022 that 191 prosecution witnesses and 51 defence witnesses were examined before the special court. Besides, there are 179 volumes of papers. Both, the prosecution and the defence will have to re-read all the evidence before the HC for deciding the appeals in the case.

Defence counsel Yug Chaudhri too said that the evidence was voluminous and he alone would take three months to present his evidence before the court.

Due to voluminous evidence in the case, the prosecution and the defence counsels had also approached then Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Dipankar Datta requesting to constitute a special bench to hear the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case of 2006. However, no special bench is formed as yet.

Maharashtra

New India Cooperative Bank embezzlement accused’s properties attached

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Mumbai: Mumbai Economic Branch (EOW) has also started property seizure proceedings in the case of embezzlement of crores of rupees from New India Cooperative Bank. EOW said that after identifying the properties obtained from the embezzled amount, it has been attached and seized. 5 accused have been arrested in this case and 21 immovable properties of these accused have been found, which have been allowed to be confiscated.

This is the first action under 107 BNSS in Mumbai city in which the property of the accused has been seized. Mumbai AOW said that the amount recovered from the seized properties will also be estimated. After the bank scam in Mumbai, EOW has taken major action and details of other properties of the accused are also being investigated.

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Crime

Mumbai Five members of Lawrence Bishnoi gang arrested, Mumbai Crime Branch gives a shock to Bishnoi gang

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Mumbai: Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed to have arrested five shooters of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi gang in a major operation. 5 revolvers and 21 live cartridges have been recovered from the possession of these shooters. Mumbai Police is also interrogating these shooters. Police arrested the attackers before they could execute the incident and averted the incident. Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested these five from Andheri area. They had come here with the intention of carrying out a major vandalism incident, but the police foiled the incident before that.

The arrested accused include Vikas Thakur, Samit Dilawar, Devendra Rupesh Saxena, Shreya Suresh Yadav, Vivek Gupta. Vikas Thakur is a resident of Versova Andheri, Samit Mukesh Kumar Dilawar is a resident of Sonipat, Haryana, Devendra Rupesh Saxena is a resident of Madhya Pradesh, Shreya Suresh Yadav is a resident of Jagdishpur, Bihar and Vivek Kumar Gupta is a resident of Rampur, Rajasthan.

Weapons have been recovered from their possession and the Crime Branch has registered a case against them under Section 3 and 25 of the BNS, Section 55 and 61 (2) and Maharashtra Police Act. The Crime Branch is investigating where the accused brought the weapons from.

After the shooting of Salman Khan, Lawrence Bishnoi gang is trying to become active in Mumbai, but due to the strict action of Mumbai Crime Branch, the back of the gang has been broken and now the Crime Branch has given a big blow to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and arrested five of its members. The Crime Branch is further investigating the matter.

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Maharashtra

It is unconstitutional to deprive SP MLA Raees Sheikh of his right to handle religious affairs under Article 26 of the Constitution

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Mumbai: Maharashtra MLA Raees Sheikh has opposed the introduction of the Wakf Bill in the Lok Sabha. Raees Sheikh has strongly criticized the BJP for creating a false narrative and called the bill a misconception and unconstitutional bill which is harmful for the poor of the society.

Shaikh further said that Article 26 of the Constitution guarantees freedom to run religious institutions. It is unconstitutional to take away the right of a person to run his institution under Article 26 of the Constitution. MLA Shaikh said that this move is against the constitutional guarantee of dealing with religious matters.

Shaikh said that the BJP government is showing the UPA government that it is doing politics of appeasement of a particular community, while the BJP-led government is not doing so. This is an attempt to spread a lie that allows the community to seize any land under Waqf or claim it to be Waqf. The Waqf Board is not a private organisation of the Muslim community but a statutory body established under the Waqf Act. In the process of declaring a property as Waqf, a government surveyor conducts a survey and officially declares the property as Waqf. Sheikh remarked that it is completely wrong to present the idea that Muslims can arbitrarily declare any property as Waqf.

Shaikh further said that he strongly opposes the false image being created by the government and the government has not considered the suggestions given by Muslims or the opposition. All Waqf governing boards and trusts have been given the option to exit the Waqf framework. This has weakened the system. “This is an unimaginable and unimaginable bill that only harms the poor of the society,” Sheikh said.

He further said that some provisions, such as the condition that the person making the donation should have been a Muslim for five years, are strange. Earlier encroachment on wakf property was a non-bailable offence, but now it has been made a criminal offence

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