1993 Mumbai blasts convict: No parole as law was amended, he forged papers: High court

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday rejected the plea of Bashir Ahmed Usman Gani Kairullah, one of the convicts in the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, who

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday rejected the plea of Bashir Ahmed Usman Gani Kairullah, one of the convicts in the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, who sought parole leave on the grounds that his wife suffered from schizophrenia.

Bashir Ahmed Usman Gani Kairullah, one of the convicts in the case sought parole leave on the grounds that his wife suffered from schizophrenia. (HT FILE)

Justice Vijaya Tahilramani and Justice Mahesh Sonak said that while the appeal was filed in March 2016, the necessary documents were furnished only in November 2016. Between this period, an amendment in the rules had made him ineligible for grant of parole. The judges were referring to an August 2016 amendment made to the Prisons (Bombay Furlough and Parole) Rules, 1959 stating that prisoners convicted for terrorist activities cannot be released on furlough, including parole leave.

While the plea was also examined on humanitarian grounds, it was still rejected by the bench after noting that Kairullah had played fraud upon the court by using a forged medical certificate. In order to show that his wife was under continuous treatment, Kairullah had annexed two medical certificates, dated June 15, 2016 and September 15, 2016. However, upon close examination, the bench noted that the latter was a forged copy of the former.

“It is clear that the petitioner has used a certificate dated 15.6.2016. Then he Xeroxed it, got ‘6’ overwritten as ‘9’, and showed it as another certificate,” said the bench rejecting his plea.

He had approached HC after an appellate court rejected his initial plea as well as the appeal against the rejection.