By IANS,
New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) Two convicts sentenced to varying jail terms by a city court Thursday in the 1992 Lajpat Nagar bomb blast case may walk free as they have already undergone the punishment during the trial, which spanned 14 years.
District and Sessions Judge S.P. Garg Thursday awarded death sentence to Mirza Nissar Hussain alias Naza, Mohammad Naushad and Mohammad Ali Bhatt alias Killey, all of whom were held guilty for murder.
The court sentenced Javed Ahmed Khan to life imprisonment, Farooq Ahmed Khan to seven years’ jail term, and Farida Dar, the lone woman convict, to imprisonment for four years and two months.
Both Farooq Ahmed Khan and Dar were convicted for lesser offences like possession of explosives that carry a maximum punishment of seven years.
Farooq Ahmed Khan, who is in jail, and Farida Dar, already out on bail, are unlikely to undergo further imprisonment despite Thursday’s sentencing as they have already undergone the punishment during the trial, a prosecution lawyer told reporters after the day’s hearing.
Javed Ahmed Khan, sentenced to life imprisonment, will have to approach the Delhi government for an early release from jail as he has already spent 14 years behind bars. “The decision for his release rests with the state government,” the government lawyer said.
The six accused were convicted April 8. Except Delhi resident Mohammad Naushad, all others are natives of Jammu and Kashmir.
Counsel for the convicts, Khalil Ansari said: “There are certain formalities which need to be followed before the sentence review board (SRB) decides the imprisonment, if at all needed, for these convicts starting from today.”
He added that Dar and Farooq are likely to escape jail terms soon after all the formalities are finished.
The blast was triggered May 2, 1996, evening in the busy Central Market area of Lajpat Nagar, killing 13 people and injuring 39 others.
Of the ten accused, four were acquitted. The police in their case said the accused were from the terror group Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF).