Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced that his government would file a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of four accused in the 2008 Jaipur Serial Bomb Blasts case by the Rajasthan High Court.
The decision was taken in a high-level meeting last night. The meeting was attended among others by Chief Secretary Usha Sharma, Principal Secretary Home Anand Kumar, Director General of Police Umesh Mishra, ADG SOG-ATS Ashok Rathore, ADG Crime Dinesh MN, ADG Intelligence S Sengthir, Principal Secretary (Law) Gyan Prakash Gupta and Secretary Home (Law) Ravi Sharma.
At the meeting, the state chief minister also decided to terminate the services of Additional Advocate General Rajendra Yadav, who was appointed to appear for the case.
Ashok Gehlot said, “The Rajasthan High Court has acquitted all the accused, overturning the 2019 district court verdict. It is the intention of the state government that the culprits should be given rigorous punishment. Therefore, the state government will soon file a SLP in the Supreme Court against the decision of the high court.”
It is pertinent to note here that a division bench of the Rajasthan High Court, on March 29, set aside the conviction of four accused and the death reference (capital punishment) was ‘answered negative’ in the Jaipur serial bomb blasts case. As many as 80 people were killed and 176 others were injured in the explosions on May 13, 2008.
The four convicts acquitted by the high court in the case included Saifur Rehman, Sarwar Azami, Mohd Salman, Mohd Saif. Earlier on December 20, 2019, a Jaipur court had sentenced all of the four, convicted of acts of terrorism, to capital punishment.
Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Rajasthan Police investigated the case and had charged 13 accused in four chargesheets in nine cases covering blasts that occurred at eight places inside the Jaipur walled city.