Zaheera, family members plead not guilty

MUMBAI: Zaheera Shaikh and her family members on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to charges proposed against them by a sessions court, for giving false evidence in the Best Bakery case.
    
Judge Abhay Thipsay ordered their trial on Wednesday after Zaheera, prime witness in the case, her mother Sahrunissa, sister Sahira and brother Nasibullah pleaded not guilty.
    
The judge, while delivering the judgement in the Best Bakery case on February 24, had issued notices to Zaheera and others, telling them to show cause why action should not be taken against them for giving false evidence.
    
They will face a summary trial and may face punishment of up to three years and a fine of Rs 500 if found guilty on charges of perjury (giving false evidence), according to their lawyer Umesh Deshpande.
    
The judge rejected a petition filed by Zaheera and her family, urging a stay on perjury proceedings against them, as they had to move the Bombay High Court to challenge the Best Bakery judgement.
    
The accused sought time to study the judgement and said they wanted to challenge the verdict as it contained adverse remarks against them.
    
The court was of the view that enough time had been granted to the accused and it could not wait any longer to initiate perjury proceedings.

 

Zaheera was brought to the court from Byculla jail, where she is serving a one-year sentence imposed on her by the Supreme Court for contempt of court.

 

The judge had read out the charges to Zaheera and her family members on last occasion and explained the accusations against them.

 

Thipsay, who had conducted the retrial in Best bakery case, has charged Zaheera with falsely stating in the court that she had not lodged the First Information Report regarding the Best bakery incident and that she was unaware of the document although it bore her signature.

 

The judge charged Zaheera with telling a lie during the re-trial that she had not told the Vadodara court earlier about talking to the police regarding the Best bakery incident. He referred to the Vadodara court proceedings that indicated that she had told police about it.
    
Thipsay charged Zaheera with making a false statement before him during the retrial that she was not aware of the outcome of verdict of Vadodara court that had acquitted the accused in Best bakery case as she and other witnesses had turned hostile.

 

Explaining the charges to Zaheera, he said she had given a false statement that she was not aware of what happened to the case after it was over in Vadodara court and she had also falsely feigned ignorance about the reason as to why the case was being tried again in Mumbai.

 

The judge pointed out that Zaheera had turned around by initially stating in evidence that she had not named anyone as an offender or a culprit before any authority or the media but later saying on oath that she had named certain persons as offenders on being tutored by different persons.
     
He said Zaheera had falsely stated that she was ignorant about the grievances made by her on the conduct of previous trial and also about the Supreme Court ordering the retrial in view of such grievances.

 

As regards Zaheera's sister Saheera, the judge said she had made contradictory statements by saying that nobody stayed in the house that was built by the side of the Best bakery and later asserting that her entire family stayed in the same house. One of the statements was false, the judge noted.
     
The court pointed out that Saheera had feigned ignorance about the death of her sister Sabira, saying she was unaware about the reason of her death but later admitted she had died in the riots. In this regard, she had lied to the court.

 

The judge charged Saheera with falsely stating that she did not know the names of the Best bakery workers and had also not named them during deposition in the previous trial in the Vadodara court. He referred to the Vadodara court records that showed that she had given the names of the workers.
     
Thipsay told her that she had falsely stated that she was unaware about Zaheera lodging a complaint with the police about the Best bakery catching fire on March 1, 2002.

 

On Nasibullah, the judge said during the retrial, he had denied making a statement in the Vadodara court about the police obtaining a signature on his statement.

 

However, the records show that he had stated this to that court. Hence, he had given false evidence.
      
Thipsay charged Zaheera's mother Sahrunissa with telling a pack of lies to the court during the retrial. Citing an example, he said Sahrunissa had falsely stated that her daughter-in-law Yasmin Shaikh was not present when the Best bakery was set on fire.

 

Judge Thipsay, on February 24, had sentenced nine accused to life imprisonment and acquitted eight due to lack of evidence. He issued perjury notices to Zaheera and her family members.
      
In the communal flare-up in Gujarat, Best Bakery was set on fire on March 1, 2002, by a mob in Vadodara, killing 14 persons who had taken refuge on the premises.
      
Zaheera, who along with her family survived the fire, had moved the apex court alleging that all the 21 accused in the case had been acquitted by a Gujarat court as she had turned hostile because of threats issued to her.
      
The apex court, on April 12, 2004, asked a Mumbai court to conduct the retrial so that the accused were given a fair trial outside Gujarat.