The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the death sentence of a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice Aftab Alam also issued notices to the Central Bureau of Investigation, on a petition filed by Zakhir Hussain Noor Sheikh, who was sentenced to death by the Mumbai Terrorist And Disruptive Activity (prevention) court.
According to the prosecution, the petitioner had thrown a bomb in Mahim fishermen's colony in Mumbai, which had killed three people and injured six.
The apex court also issued notices on the petition of some other convicts in the case.
The petitioner contended in his appeal that the TADA court had failed to appreciate that there was no evidence against him, showing his involvement in the conspiracy, and prayed to the court to stay his death sentence till the final disposal of his criminal appeal.
According to the prosecution, the convicts were actively involved in the criminal conspiracy which culminated in a series of bomb blasts on March 12, 1993, which killed over 2000 people and injured many more.
Of the 123 accused, twelve were awarded the capital punishment.
Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt is also one of the convicts in the case and has been awarded six-year imprisonment by the TADA court for possessing illegal arms. His appeal is also pending in the Supreme Court. Mafia don Dawood Ibrahim and Saudi Arabia-based Memon brothers, the prime accused in the case, have been declared absconders.
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