SENSEX
NIFTY
GOLD
USD/INR

Weather

image 10    C

Top News

The New Indian Express News

Top / The New Indian Express

details

Rajasthan HC rejects plea for premature release of 1993 train blast case convicts

JAIPUR:The Jaipur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court has refused to grant premature release to life convicts sentenced under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) in the 1993 serial train bomb blasts case. Delivering the verdict, a division bench of Justices Sudesh Bansal and Bhuvan Goyal held that granting early release to those convicted of terrorism-related offences would endanger societal safety and national security. The court underlined that such leniency could undermine public confidence and disturb public order. The pleas were filed by Asfaq Khan from Dausa, Fazlur Rahman Sufi of Mumbai, Abre Rahmat Ansari of Kabinagar in Uttar Pradesh, and Mohammad Aijaz Akbar from Gulbarga. Each of them has spent more than two decades in prison and sought relief citing advanced age and deteriorating health. The convicts relied on the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines, arguing that prisoners become eligible for consideration of premature release after completing 20 years of incarceration. They further claimed that their cases should be assessed in accordance with the remission policy prevailing at the time their sentences were awarded. Resisting the petitions, Additional Solicitor General Bharat Vyas and Advocate General Rajendra Prasad, representing the Centre and the Rajasthan government, argued that the Rajasthan Prisoners (Remission of Sentence) Rules, 2006, as well as the earlier 1958 rules, categorically prohibit early release of TADA convicts. They emphasised that Rule 9(5) specifically excludes such cases from being examined by the Advisory Board. The matter relates to the coordinated bomb attacks carried out on six long-distance trains passing through Mumbai, Surat, Lucknow, Kanpur and Hyderabad on the night of December 5, 1993. The blasts claimed two lives and left 22 people injured. The Central Bureau of Investigation probed the case, and upon completion of the trial on February 28, 2004, the accused were awarded life imprisonment.

18 Dec 2025 10:24 pm