HC shrugs off SC rap, rules bail again

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday granted bail to seven accused of burning alive 11 people in Deepda Darwaza, Visnagar town, on February 28,...

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday granted bail to seven accused of burning alive 11 people in Deepda Darwaza, Visnagar town, on February 28, 2002, saying imprisonment would ‘‘amount to pre-trial sentence’’ if the trial court lets them off for want of evidence. The HC was only repeating its December 2003 order which the SC set aside, saying the court’s grounds for granting bail were irrelevant.

Justice B.J. Sethna, who passed today’s order, said: ‘‘Ultimately, if the accused are acquitted for want of legal evidence against them by the trial court, then no one can compensate the period during which they remained in

jail.’’

The court dismissed complainant Mohammad Iqbal Khan Ahmad Khan Bloch’s contentions against bail, saying, ‘‘It appears that the complainant wants pound of flesh of the accused and nothing less than that.’’ Among the 11 people torched in Deepda Darwaza was a relative of Bloch’s.

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In his FIR lodged after the massacre, Bloch had named nine people, including the seven who got bail. Later, police investigations showed 72 more people were involved. After today’s order, all 81 accused are out on bail. The chargesheet in the case has been filed and recording of evidence completed.

The High Court had granted bail to the accused in December 2003 but Bloch moved Supreme Court which set aside the HC order. ‘‘The reasons indicated for the grant of bail do not appear to us either relevant or have any bearing on the question of grant of bail. In the circumstances, we set aside the order of the High Court so that it can be reheard afresh after taking note of all relevant aspects in accordance with law,’’ the bench comprising Justices Doraiswamy Raju and Arijit Pasayat had said in April.

When the High Court took up the case again in May, neither the counsel for the accused nor the state counsel could point out the ‘‘non-relevant’’ portion of the HC’s ruling. Additional Public Prosecutor Pitamber Abhichandani opposed the bail application, saying there was a prima facie case against the accused and they had been arrested by the police from the place of the incident.

Bloch had opposed the original bail application also. His counsel Jitendra Malkan had then told the court that one of the witnesses in the case had even told police that he apprehended danger to his life if the accused were released on bail. The court held that the witness’ apprehension was without foundation.