by Muslim Mirror Staff
The Supreme Court declined to grant a stay on the Rajasthan High Court’s decision to acquit four Muslim youths involved in the Indian Mujahideen case.
Earlier, the Rajasthan High Court had acquitted the Muslim youth who had previously been sentenced to death by a lower court in the Indian Mujahideen case. Subsequently, the Congress-led government of Rajasthan, headed by Ashok Gehlot, filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging this decision.
During today’s hearing of the petition in the Supreme Court, a two-member bench declined to grant a stay on the Rajasthan High Court’s decision.
As per a statement released by Jamiat Ulema Hind, the Supreme Court expressed its willingness to hear petitions opposing the release of the acquitted individuals instead of issuing a stay order.
Justice Abhay Soka and Justice Rajesh Bandal, the two judges on the Supreme Court bench, stated that the court will determine the correctness of the Rajasthan High Court’s decision after a thorough hearing. However, they indicated that a decision would not be made in favor of granting a stay without a detailed hearing of the case.
The court postponed the hearing of the case until the following week.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi and Advocate Maninder Singh represented the bomb blast victims in court, while the Attorney General of India, R Venkat Ramani, represented the state government.
Advocate Gaurav Aggarwal and Advocate Mujahid Ahmed represented Shehbaz Ahmed, who was acquitted by the lower court and the Jaipur High Court.
Advocate Vrinda Grover represented the accused who were not sentenced to death. On one side, the state government and the bomb blast victims have filed appeals in the Supreme Court against the four accused who were spared the death penalty. Additionally, they have also filed an appeal against Shehbaz Ahmed, who was acquitted by the lower court and the High Court. These appeals were scheduled to be heard today.
Following the Rajasthan High Court’s verdict, a caveat was filed on behalf of Shehbaz Ahmed in the Supreme Court. Advocate Mujahid Ahmed, through Advocate on Record Chand Qureshi, filed the caveat. As the High Court had made decisions on all eight appeals, caveats were submitted in all eight appeals on behalf of Shehbaz Ahmed.
It is important to highlight that in the Indian Mujahideen case, the Rajasthan High Court recently made a significant ruling regarding the four Muslim youths named Seifur Rehman Ansari, Abdul Rahman Ansari, Mohammad Sarwar Mohammad Hanif Azmi, Mohammad Saif Shadab Ahmed, and Mohammad Salman Shakeel Ahmed. These individuals were not only acquitted of the charges but the court also directed an investigation against the police officers who falsely implicated them in the case.
A two-judge bench of the High Court instructed the Director General of Police to initiate an investigation into the Investigating Officers (ATS) who were involved in the false case. Additionally, the court directed the Chief Secretary to address this significant issue in the broader public interest.
In their verdict, Justices Pankaj Bhandari and Sameer Jain expressed that the investigating agency should bear responsibility for their ongoing negligence, which was carried out with malicious intentions.
