Farookh Iqbal Maqdumi had been on a hunger strike inside the Arthur Road jail since April 5, in protest against the slow judicial process.
He started his fast a day after social activist Anna Hazare but it took Hazare five days of non-stop fasting to get the union government agree to his demands, Dr Farookh Iqbal Maqdumi, an accused in the Malegaon bomb blast of 2006, had no idea how long he would have to fast to get the attention of the court and jail administration. He did get the jail authorities attention but they just admitted him to a hospital on April 9 and forcibly injected food.
According to sources, Maqdumi had been on a hunger strike
inside the Arthur Road jail since April 5, in protest against the slow judicial process. In a letter shared with DNA by a source close to Maqdumi, he has complained that while the investigation is transferred from one agency to the other, their fate remains undecided.
“We should at least be granted bail. Our bail was rejected by the trial court and we have still not been given the order copy for us to apply in the higher court. Having been in jail for 54 months, my restlessness is inevitable,” reads Maqdumi’s letter.
The matter is at the Bombay high court’s behest one more time. Justice Ranjana Desai and justice RG Ketkar recently directed the public prosecutor to confer with the concerned officer and inform the court on April 13, 2010, as to what mechanism will be created by the state to ensure that all the under trial prisoners are produced in the court on the required date.
Attending the criminal application turned public interest litigation (PIL) of an under trial accused Shaikh Abdul Naeem and others, justice BH Marlapalle and justice UD Salvi last month while adjourning the matter for three weeks for the public prosecutor to get details of the steps being taken observed that, “ this petition received from the jail raises an important issue namely the delay caused in proceeding with the trials before the sessions/ special courts on account of non-production of the accused before the concerned court, by the prosecution. The petitioner has given more than 50 names and the dates on which some of them could not be produced before trial court, consequently leading to adjournment.”
Naeem’s application said that, “I would like to bring to your notice that all the 2,200 prisoners were willing to produce their grievances of non-production but as the petitioner was lodged in circle number 8/2 only the details of said circle was furnished to this honourable court,” reads his application.
The application further reads, “For the whole year 65,623 requisition were sent to the assistant commissioner of police however only 37,725 escort party were provided for the year 2010. Consequently, 27,898 accused were not produced before the respective court.”
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