Posted on 09/27/2006 1:45:47 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
NEW DELHI: Almost five years after the Parliament attack, a special Pota court on Tuesday fixed October 20 for the hanging of Mohammad Afzal, the main convict in the case.
Additional sessions judge Ravinder Kaur issued Afzal’s death warrant and ordered that the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant — sentenced to death in the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack case — be hanged at 6 am on October 20 in Tihar jail.
The warrant comes after the s u p r e m e court upheld in August 2005 the death penalty awarded to him by the Pota court. In its order, the apex court had confirmed the death sentence as Afzal was one of the key conspirators. In its judgment, the SC called Afzal a "menace to society" whose "life should become extinct" to satisfy the "collective conscience of the society".
The SC, however, had set aside the death sentence awarded to Afzal’s cousin, Shaukat Hussain Guru, and sentenced him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 25,000. It observed that Shaukat had knowledge of the conspiracy but was not party to it. The SC had also upheld the HC’s acquittal of Delhi University lecturer S.A.R. Geelani and acquitted Shaukat’s wife Afsan Guru.
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 26: A sessions court today ordered that Mohammad Afzal, convicted in the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack case, be executed on October 20. Tihar Jail authorities said the execution, the first in 17 years, will be carried out once they receive formal orders. A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesman said no mercy petition had been received.
Special POTA Court judge ASJ Ravinder Kaur today formally issued what is referred to as the black warrant. The order stated that Afzal “hang by the neck till death at 0600 hours on October 20, 2006”. After the order, his lawyer said Afzal hasn’t decided yet on a mercy petition but legal experts said he would now need the court’s permission to do so. If that is denied, he could, as a last option, file a writ petition in the High Court or Supreme Court.
On December 18, 2002, the court had sentenced Afzal to death, along with Delhi University lecturer S A R Geelani and Shaukat Hussain Guru for the terror strike on Parliament, under sections 302 of the IPC and 3(2) of the POTA. The court had also sentenced Shaukat’s wife Afsan Guru to five years RI for concealing knowledge of the conspiracy.
Prosecutors, while seeking the death penalty, said Afzal was in touch with Jaish commander Ghazi Baba and had arranged shelter and transport in Delhi for the five fidayeen who attacked Parliament.
The Delhi High Court later acquitted Geelani and Afsan Guru.
Afzal’s death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court bench of Justices P V Reddy and P V Naolekar on August 4, 2005, while Shaukat Guru’s sentence was reduced to 10 years R I.
Afzal will be the first convict to be hanged in Tihar, where he is currently lodged, in seventeen years. The last executions were of Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh, Indira Gandhi’s assassins, in 1989. After the executions, the gallows and other equipment set up inside the jail complex fell into disuse.
It was only when Babbar Khalsa militant Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar was sentenced to death that the authorities discovered that the facilities were no longer usable. But Bhullar’s mercy petition was accepted by the President and an overhaul of the gallows was never done. This time around, Central jail authorities are on the job.
“We had been anticipating that the sentence might have to be carried out within the year. However, we are yet to receive the formal warrant from the special court. We will proceed with the proposed overhaul only after we receive the documents,” Additional Inspector General (Central Jail) C R Garg told The Indian Express this evening. The “overhaul” in question, according to Central Jail authorities, will involve reconstruction of the gallows inside the high-security death row enclosure in Jail No.3, acquisition of the special rope from manufacturers in Allahabad (which had its own 15 minutes of fame during Dhananjoy Chatterjee’s hanging in July 2004 in Kolkata).
The hiring of a hangman will be another matter, since Tihar does not have a regular executioner after the 1989 hangings. “We will be initiating these measures, which we have decided upon earlier, as soon as we receive the warrant,” Addl IG Garg said.
The case against him
Why death sentence?
Charges against Afzal included murder, criminal conspiracy, waging war against country. Backed by evidence from phone taps, prosecutors asked for death, saying ‘rarest of rare’ crime. Said Afzal was in touch with Jaish commander Ghazi Baba, arranged shelter, transport in Delhi for 5 fidayeen who attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001. Geelani, Afzal and Shaukat sentenced to death by POTA court on Dec 18, 2002
His co-accused
Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani, Shaukat Guru and his wife Afsan. Afzal, Geelani, Guru were accused of having a hand in planning the strike, Afsan was accused of concealing conspiracy
HC upheld 2 death sentences
Afzal, Shaukat's death sentences upheld while Geelani, Afsan Guru were acquitted. The court, in Oct 2003, said proof against Geelani, based on phone taps, insufficient for conviction
SC upheld Afzal’s death
Upheld Afzal's death sentence, reduced Shaukat's sentence to 10 years RI. Acquittal of Geelani and Afsan upheld, SC agreed with HC that evidence against them was insufficient
Can Afzal live?
Rashtrapati Bhavan says no mercy petition received. His lawyer says Afzal hasn’t decided yet, experts say court’s permission needed to file mercy plea after today’s order. If court says no, can move writ petition in HC/SC as last option
The Indian Express
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/13501.html
Ping.
mark.
I hope they realize that hanging mohammed is probably one more thing that will tick off the sandmaggots of the world.
This undoubtedly is a remarkable acheivement for our judiciary.I would have been more happier if Afsan guru,Geelani and Shaukath Hussain were also hanged to death.The verdict was pretty fast considering the complexities involved and is surely poised to send right signals to the right persons.However saddening is the protests in JK over the scentence.
PS:The indian express article was informative and intersting.Thanks for posting it.
You're welcome!
And I expect this to be commuted to a life-imprisonment...just watch.
Can't be sure about that.Any appeal to the Pres,will go to the government & to the SC.I really don't think any of these 3 parties will want to appear to be soft on terror in the current environment.
But it could be ages before the appeals process is exhausted & I hope another Kandahar doesn't come in the way.
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