A division bench of acting chief justice VK Tahilramani and justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, while admitting the petition filed by Chauhan and posting it for further hearing on March 21, refused any interim relief.
Ibrahim Chauhan, convicted in the 1993 bomb blasts case, who had supplied weapons to actor Sanjay Dutt, has been refused relief by the Bombay High Court. He had challenged the prison authority order cancelling the remission in jail term granted, thereby extending his prison stay by 80 days, last November.
A division bench of acting chief justice VK Tahilramani and justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, while admitting the petition filed by Chauhan and posting it for further hearing on March 21, refused any interim relief. "As per the extended prison term, Chauhan would anyway be released by March-end, thus the entire challenge would be frustrated," said his advocate Farhana Shah.
Chauhan, who was convicted and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, in his petition had claimed that the decision of the deputy inspector general of prisons was passed "without applying judicious mind and with a malafide intention", and that because he is a bomb blast accused, he is being targeted by the authorities.
Chauhan was found guilty of supplying weapons to Dutt along with other co-accused Salim Sheikh; his sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. After he surrendered in 2013 and was lodged in Nashik jail, he was assigned the work of 'kundi cleaning', which involves gardening, cleaning toilets, and water tank cleaning among other things.
Over a period, because of his good conduct and the work he'd done, he was granted 80 days' special remission, as per which he was to be released last year. However, when he returned to prison after his parole leave on November 24, 2015, he was handed an order indicating that his special remission was cancelled.
Shah said the reason for cancelling the remission is because of a statement officials recorded of an inmate not put up in the same prison yard, who said Chauhan had not done his assigned work properly.
She added that the order was illegal and, hence, they have prayed that it may be set aside and Chauhan be released immediately.
Chauhan, along with others, including gangster Abu Salem, was alleged to have visited Dutt on January 15, 1993, and informed him that they would deliver weapons to him the next day. Later, a large part of the arms and ammunition was taken away except the AK-47 rifle, which was found in Dutt's possession for which he has been convicted.
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 "Sanjay Dutt")
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