2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts: HC upholds death penalty for 38

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday upheld a special court’s order sentencing 38 convicts to death and 11 others to life imprisonment in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case. A Division Bench comprising Justices A.Y. Kogje and Samir Dave dismissed all appeals challenging the special court’s verdict and upheld the sentences awarded to members of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen in the case.
On 26 July 2008, a series of 21 bomb blasts rocked Ahmedabad within a span of 70 minutes, killing 56 people and injuring over 200 others. Some hospitals in the city were also targeted. Seventy-eight persons were put on trial before the special court, and of them, 49 were convicted in February 2022. The trial was conducted after merging 35 different police cases, 20 FIRs lodged in Ahmedabad for 21 blasts and 15 in Surat city, where the terrorists had placed bombs, but they did not detonate. In 2022, a special court sentenced 38 members of the Indian Mujahideen to death and 11 others to life imprisonment.
The convicts include Safdar Nagori, former leader of the banned outfit Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and his associates. The high court also directed the state government to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of those who died in the serial blasts and Rs 5 lakh to those who were grievously injured.
All the persons convicted by the lower court had challenged the order in the High Court. The state government had approached the HC for confirmation of sentences to the convicts. Special public prosecutor Amit Patel said the government had placed all the evidence against the convicts before the high court during the trial. This was the first time that such a large number of convicts had been handed the death sentence by any court in one go.

(State Correspondent)