E-Paper
HC grants conditional bail to 4 men in 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case
In July 2005, the heavily guarded Ram Janmabhoomi site was attacked by 5 terrorists who were shot dead by security personnel; four men now released on bail were accused of being involved in the conspiracy behind the attack
PRAYAGRAJ The Allahabad high court granted conditional bail to four men sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with a terrorist attack at the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya 18 years ago. It directed to present their appeals challenging the life term awarded to them for hearing on December 4, 2023.
The order was given by a division bench comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi while accepting the bail applications of Shakeel Ahmed, Mohammad Naseem, Asif Iqbal alias Farooq and Irfan.
In July 2005, the heavily guarded Ram Janmabhoomi site was attacked by five terrorists who were shot dead by security personnel. A civilian was also killed. The four men now released on bail were accused of being involved in the conspiracy behind the terror attack. The accused had filed a plea for suspension of their sentence and grant of bail before the high court.
A jeep bearing registration number UP42T 0618 stopped near the Jain Temple in Ayodhya, whereafter a blast occurred in the jeep itself. Five heavily armed terrorists then attacked the premises popularly known as ‘Ram Janmabhoomi Sthal’ and the security forces retaliated. The firing continued for almost two hours and all five attackers were silenced. One civilian identified as Ramesh Kumar Pandey also lost his life in the blast.
While imposing certain conditions, the court said that all the petitioners will have to report to their police station every week. Besides, they will surrender their passport and will not leave the country. Further, they will pay the fine within six weeks.
The applicants’ appeal against conviction was pending before the court and they had filed the present bail application in the appeal, requesting the court to release them on bail during the pendency of their appeal.
While directing that the applicants be released on bail, the court said:
“We have perused the records and we find that this is a case of terrorist attack at a significant religious place, wherein five terrorists have been shot dead. The incident is grave and serious and has to be treated as an attack on civilized society...all four accused appellants have been implicated in the offence as conspirators. The aspect of conspiracy is asserted by the prosecution relying upon the recovery of a mobile handset from one of the terrorists who had been silenced on the spot.”
“The prosecution case is that the mobile handset recovered from the spot was used in various SIM card numbers and through a process of call detail records, all the four accused persons have been connected to the recovered mobile handset and thereby implicated in the matter,” the court said.
“A period of more than one year has expired since the order of the Supreme Court and therefore, we are of the view that the prayer made by the accused persons for consideration of their first bail applications is liable to be considered since hearing of the appeal may take some more time as the comprehensive paper book is not ready and its preparation may require some more time,” added the court.
“We are also mindful of the fact that a long period of incarceration during the pendency of appeal has been viewed with concern by the Supreme Court in a series of orders/judgments. Liberty of the individuals would have to be respected while balancing the competing interests of the State to maintain order in the society,” it said.
In our view, without further commenting upon the merits of the
case, it would be appropriate to enlarge all the accused appellants”, the court added in its order dated September 19.
