By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai : In a continued blow to the Gujarat police and its home ministry the special POTA court on Friday acquitted the last remaining two lately arrested accused persons falsely implicated in the country’s high profile Akshardham temple terror case of 2002 which had resulted in deaths of 33 people and many more were injured. The special POTA court completely relied upon the remarkable Supreme Court judgment which was delivered on 16th May 2014 in the favor of 6 accused who were previously convicted for life and deaths by the POTA court.
The special POTA court Judge Geeta Gopi completely discarded police theory of conspiracy in the light of Apex court’s finding and left investigation agency once again red faced while not relying upon acquitted person’s alleged confessional statements recorded under sections of POTA. The court went on to say that it was illegal and falling short of established procedure of recording of confession as held by the Supreme Court in its judgment while deciding the appeal against conviction by five accused in the same case who were found guilty earlier by the special POTA and Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court.
Majeed Patel and Shaukatullah Ghaori
These two accused Majeed Patel and Shaukatullah Ghauri were lately arrested by Gujarat police in the year 2008 from Bharuch district of Gujarat and from Hyderabad, respectively. As these two accused were arrested late when the trial of already arrested 6 accused had ended in their conviction on 01-07-2006, the trial of these two accused persons was carried out separately. The special POTA court had finished recording of all the evidences on 22 May i.e. only a week after the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of convicted accused, and had kept the matter for its final order in the first week of June.
In their now proved fictitious theory of Gujarat police Majeed Patel was accused of providing logistical support to the alleged two suicide militants who had gone on rampage firing killing many visiting pilgrims on the Akshardham temple whereas Shaukatullah Ghauri was accused of raising fund for the terrorist act in the Riyadh city of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
These two accused persons were also provided with legal help by the Muslim Non-Governmental Organization Jamiat Ulema (Maharashtra) Hind. Jamiat lawyers Khalid Shaikh while serving the Supreme Court judgment had informed special POTA court that the Honorable Supreme Court has kept aside allegedly recorded confessional statements of the 6 accused persons in the case by investigation agency and hence the court should not consider alleged confessions of present two accused while reaching to the logical conclusion of the case.
These Supreme Court divisional bench observations came to the rescue of these two accused persons who were on the verge of being convicted for the crimes which they never even imagined and rather were acquitted by the special POTA court itself ending their long agony of 6 years behind the bars.
Jamiat Ulema Hind has expressed happiness with the order of special POTA court and were very much contended with their decision to help these remaining two persons in freeing them from the allegations of crimes which the Jamiat considered were not only against those two persons but against the whole community.
Jamiat Ulema (Maharashtra) legal cell secretary Gulzar Azmi while talking with the press said, “We are happy with the acquittal of these two innocent men. Their acquittal is good news for whole community as it was a blot on the community. Jamiat had chosen well know lawyers panel for their defense”.
Related :
Akshardham terror trail: Gujarat Police, 6 innocents and Jamiat Ulema
‘Was depressed when lower court & HC found us guilty’
Akshardham case: JUH was the only support before and after the release
SC referred to Ajmal Kasab case to fortify its judgment in Akshardham case
‘POTA Court and Gujarat HC worked with pre-conceived mind,’ says lawyer in Akshardham case
Relevant Observations of Supreme Court in ‘Akshardham Temple terror case’