By IANS,
New Delhi, Sep 7 (IANS) The day – Wednesday – and the site – Delhi High Court – were chosen purposefully by the bombers for maximum casualties, it would seem. It is the day of the week that is fixed for filing public interest litigations, and Gate No. 5 is the place where the litigants crowd to enter the court premises.
If the blast had taken place on any other day of the week, the casualties would certainly have been lower, said lawyers.
Wednesday is especially kept for taking up or filing public interest litigations before the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
The day was fixed for hearing PILs to make it convenient for both petitioners and respondents. Earlier, varying days were given for the hearings which caused a lot of chaos, a lawyer said.
“Around 300 people were waiting outside Gate No 5 of the court when the blast took place. On regular days the number used to be half,” said an advocate Ashok Kumar.
The blast that took place at 10.13 a.m. killed 11 people and left 76 injured.
At the site, where the blast was marked by a crater, Bhagwan Das, an eyewitness, recounted his “close encounter” with a moment of terror that left him numbed. “I saw some people losing their hands and legs. Their bodies drenched in blood. God, it was terrible,” Das told IANS, himself in a state of shock.
A low-intensity blast had hit the high court in May this year.