11/7 accused challenge MCOCA charges

In a surprising development a section of the July 2006 commuter trains blasts-accused is set to challenge charges levelled against them by the investigating agency in the high court.

The petition, likely to be filed on Friday, will question the “authority” of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) (read the investigating agency) and the state to invoke provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused.

Explaining the logic of the move, Shahid Azmi — the lawyer representing the blasts accused — said issues relating to national security and insurgencies should be solely dealt with by the Centre with Parliamentary support.

The state has little to tinker with in this regard, he argued. “The onus squarely lies with the Centre and the Parliament to interfere and deal with cases relating to national security breaches, wrought by acts of terror,” Azmi said.

At one point during the probe, the ATS chose to slap MCOCA against Ehteesam Siddique, Kamal Ansari and Faizal Shaikh — all accused in 11/7 blasts case. The chargesheet filed by the ATS sometime back also levelled specific MCOCA clauses against the accused.

It is learnt that MCOCA provisions and their application were backed by the logic that it would give investigators more time to get normally withheld information from the accused and pre-empt bail moves.

Also the investigating agency could afford to simply overlook the “criminal intent” aspect of the case, while pushing for punitive action against the accused.

The investigators argued that the results obtained from the narco-analysis tests done on the accused called for the application of MCOCA. Cops said MCOCA had helped them frame charges in a proper manner.