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| Hang 44 convicts, says CBI | | | MUMBAI
If CBI has its way, the 44 accused found guilty of conspiracy in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts may find themselves on the death row.
On Thursday, CBI's special counsel N Natrajan, in less than 90 minutes, urged the Tada trial judge to treat the terror act of March 12, 1993, on a par with waging war against a country's sovereignty.
In the face of "global terrorism", he demanded death penalty to deter and curb such acts in future. He also called for life imprisonment for 44 others without dealing with the guilty individually.
"We are not concerned just with judicial conscience but with destruction of a nation," said Natrajan who relied on the 2005 Supreme Court judgment in the Parliament attack case which upheld death penalty to terrorist Mohammed Afzal.
But never once in his brief oral submissions did he mention the words "death penalty" in court. He said Tada Judge P D Kode should keep in mind the SC's observation in the Afzal case that the "highest punishment should be given subject to the satisfaction of the court to serve the purpose of curbing terrorism."
The SC had said, "Although every terrorist act does not amount to waging war, certain terrorist acts can constitute it.
There is no dichotomy between the two." The CBI had split the 100 guilty into three segments - those guilty of criminal conspiracy to cause the blasts and death (47), those who abetted and facilitated the acts of terror (44) and those who violated the Customs and Arms Act (nine).
The first category included the dozen-odd people who had planted bombs. Natrajan asked for "maximum punishment prescribed under Tada" for all of them, barring the lone woman - Rubina Memon, wife of main absconding accused Tiger Memon's brother - and two others, Imtiyaz Ghavate and tainted additional customs collector S K Thapa, who are both suffering from life threatening diseases. For Rubina, who is out on bail, he demanded life imprisonment.
The CBI made concessions for the two other women found guilty of abetment in the blasts Zaibunnisa Kazi (to whom Abu Salem delivered a bag of AK-56 rifles after visiting actor Sanjay Dutt's house) and Mubina Bhiwandiwala (in whose house the conspiracy meetings were held). Both are on bail.
"They can be given a lesser sentence," the CBI counsel said, even as the two dressed in black burqas sat with impassive
faces. "We want the maximum punishment for all others," he said.
Under Tada, the maximum punishment for abetment is life imprisonment, the minimum is five years. Some accused have only been found guilty of possession of arms under Tada, which also attracts a maximum of life imprisonment
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