Why can’t blasts accused be tried together, asks Supreme Court

The Supreme Court (SC) issued notices to the Centre and five states on Monday seeking to know the possibility of clubbing the cases of 63 terror accused and their prosecution before one special court.

The notices were issued on a plea by Indian Mujahideen (IM), which allegedly triggered serial blasts in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Surat two years ago.

Several members of the outfit are facing trials in Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

A bench of chief justice KG Balakrishnan and justices Deepak Verma and BS Chauhan sought response from the states, which have filed 52 FIRs against the IM members.

“What to say about speedy trial of petitioners - accused persons. Though a period of more than 18 months has passed, in most cases charge sheets are yet to be filed,” MS Khan, lawyer for IM suspects Zia-ur-Rahman, Mohd Shakeel, Mohd Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Saqib Nisar, Mohd Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy, Mubin Kadar Shaikh, Asif Bashiruddin Shaikh and Mohd Akbar Ismail Choudhary, said.

The accused who killed hundreds of innocent people said they had been denied the guarantee under Article 21 (speedy trial).
“The probe agencies of different states made them soft targets and involved them in all serial bomb blast cases to avoid serious and meaningful investigation and apprehending the real culprits,” Khan said. About 150 other accused were also to be tried along with the IM suspects, he said.