‘7/11 verdict before year-end’

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After being stalled for two years, trial faced several hurdles including hostile witnesses
Five years after seven high-intensity bombs went off in a span of 11 minutes on local trains in Mumbai, claiming 187 lives and rendering over 800 injured, the trial against the 13 alleged terrorists involved has reached its final leg. With just the official witnesses remaining to be examined, the legal team assisting the case claims the judgment will be out before the year ends.

However, the long-drawn legal battle has not been easy for the prosecution. After the case got stalled for nearly two years, with one of the accused, Kamal Ansari, challenging the constitutional validity of a section pertaining to insurgency under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) invoked against the accused, it was only last May that the Supreme Court rejected the petition and the trial resumed.

So far, of the 111 prosecution witnesses examined — including a few eyewitnesses and police officers who investigated the case and recorded the statements — nearly four crucial witnesses have turned hostile. “A few witnesses, including one who came from a neighbouring country to depose, failed to support the prosecution’s case and was declared hostile,” said defence advocate Avinash Rasal.

In some cases, the witnesses also have almost identical statements, raising doubts on their credibility, said a defence lawyer. “For instance, at least two witnesses have a similar account — the accused boarded the train from Churchgate and alighted at Dadar station, leaving the bomb-laden bag on the head rack of the train. The similarity in the depositions raises doubts and there have also been factual errors in their depositions,” claimed another lawyer on condition of anonymity.

Of the four witnesses declared hostile, one — the cousin of prime accused Faisal Ataur Rehman Sheikh — had claimed that his statements was extracted under duress. “I was kept in confinement for more than 20 days,” he told the court. The ATS claims Shaikh is LeT’s western India chief and the mastermind of the terror plot. However, one of the officers supporting the legal team claimed the witnesses had vested interests in making such U-turns.

“Since their arrest, the accused have tried everything to derail the case. The witnesses, who had earlier deposed before the magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, turned hostile. But evidence gathered against the accused is so strong that it will not affect the case,” said an officer.

The ATS probing the case arrested all 13, claiming they were members of the banned organisation, SIMI, and LeT. The agency in its chargesheet had charged the accused under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, MCOCA and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Even for defence advocates, the case has been a challenge. A battery of lawyers had to leave the case unceremoniously after the accused waived black flags inside the court, protesting against their appointments. The accused were then represented by another set of senior lawyers appointed by the Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind, a Muslim organisation which works within the community. “Lawyers were forced to leave after the accused misbehaved with some of them,” said senior advocate R B Mokashi.

The case is under trial before the special MCOCA Judge Yatin D Shinde, who is also conducting trials in the 2006 and 2008 Malegaon blast cases and the Aurangabad arms haul case.

[Chocolateboy]

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