NEW DELHI, May 6:
The Delhi High Court has reduced jail-term of three terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives from ten to seven years under the Explosive Substance Act saying “their jail conduct was satisfactory.”
Allowing the appeals filed by Mohd Akbar Hussain alias Mohd Qasim, Abdul Rehman alias Mohd Hassan and Salman Khurshid Kori against the trial court’s sentence order of December 2011, Justice S P Garg has considered the convicts’ age as of today.
“I have considered the submissions of the parties and have examined the trial court record. Since the appellants (Hussain, Rehman and Kori) have opted not to challenge the findings of the trial court on conviction under section 5 of Explosive Substance Act, the order of conviction of the trial court stands affirmed….
“Considering all these facts and circumstances, the order on sentence is modified and the sentence of RI for ten years is reduced to seven years,” the court said.
The court also considered the age of all the convicts.
“Accused 1’s (Hussain) nominal roll on January 24, 2013 reveals that the he has already undergone six years and nineteen days incarceration as on January 22, 2013…He is not involved in any other criminal activity and is not a previous convict. His overall jail conduct is satisfactory. He is a young man. His application reveals that he did not seek any bail/parole. He is suffering from depression. He was eighteen years old at the time of his arrest,” the court said and also cited similar reasons for the two other convicts while reducing their sentence.
According to the prosecution, the accused persons were arrested from Azad Hind Market near Red Fort on December 19, 2006. They were in possession of explosives to execute their plan in Delhi.
Police had also recovered ten sticks of plastic explosives weighing 1 kg in a bag, two detonators and hand grenades.
The accused were charged under various sections of IPC, Explosive Substance Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In December 2011, the trial court had acquitted all of them from the charges of IPC and UA Act but held guilty under the Explosive Substance Act and sentenced them to ten year jail-term. (PTI)
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