The life sentences to six young men arrested in the course of the investigations into the Indian Institute of Science attack of December 28,2005,were awarded by a Bangalore fast-track court on the basis of the seizure of arms,ammunition and explosives following their confessions,three meetings they had held,and the literature they had been reading. Despite a host of witnesses having turned hostile,the court cited the minutes of those meetings in finding the six guilty of a conspiracy to wage war against the country. Mohammed Razur Rehman,Afsar Pasha,Mehboob Ibrahim Chopdar,Noorulla Khan,Mohammed Irfan and Nazimuddin alias Munna had been arrested between January 2 and 24,2006,by the Bangalore police and were initially linked to the IISc attack of the previous month,despite there being no evidence to implicate them in it. Subsequently,the arrests were made a part of a separate case of criminal conspiracy,the judgment in which was delivered on December 19. Though the prosecution made out a case of Rehman being linked to the LeT,no evidence was brought in this respect,and the court did not address the issue. The 193-page judgment delivered at the trial court of City Fast Track (Sessions) Judge G S Revankar shows that the judge turned down charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against the six men on a technicality the lack of a sanction but found them guilty of criminal conspiracy under Section 120 B of the IPC. Entering into an agreement by two or more persons to do an illegal act by illegal means is the very quintessence of the conspiracy, the judge observed while upholding the prosecutions case on the basis of the details of meetings held by the six men. The court found the men guilty of the charge of conspiring to wage war against the country under Section 121 of the IPC. The men were also found guilty of charges under the Arms Act and the Explosives Act,though no weapons or explosives were found at the time of their arrest. The seizures were made from different places on the basis of their confession statements. The primary basis on which the court has found the men,now aged between 27 to 41,guilty is the minutes of the meeting of a society the men had formed and called Masjid o Madrasa e Mohammedia Ahle Hadees Trust. Minutes of the meeting of the trust held at a house in Chintamani near Bangalore on December 10,2003,indicate the issue of jihad,treatment of Muslims,Babri Masjid and Gujarat killings being addressed by Rehman,who also made a call to arms that was objected to by some others at the meeting. Prosecution witnesses to vouch for the minutes of the meeting,including some who were part of the trust but dissented against the call to arms,turned hostile during the trial stage. According to records placed before the court,it was decided at a second meeting of the trust on August 19,2005,to form a society named Jamath-ul-Mujahiddin and it was agreed to go for jihad training. The fast-track court judge has in his judgment observed that exhibit P92 (minutes of the meetings) clearly goes to show their active involvement in jihad activities. Merely because there is reference to word jihad that alone does not constitute waging war but at exhibit P92 there is a reference to such an extent that the accused number 1 (Rehman) assured the supply of gun,bomb etc. The exhibit goes to show that the accused conspired to wage war against the Government of India,the court has observed. Another basis on which the court has found the men guilty is the dangerous and anti-national literature seized from Pasha and Chopdar. As many as 15 books and magazines were seized by the police from Pasha and Chopdar and sent to the then Chairman of the Urdu Academy M Noorudin to provide their gist. If we fall back to the evidence PW 65 (chairman of the Urdu Academy) we can see that he has categorically stated that some of the books which were seized in this case are provocative,dangerous and also anti-India. PW 65 is a responsible person. Therefore though he has not furnished the entire translation,the gist of the book which he has furnished has to be accepted, the court said. The court has also commented on the initial arrest in the case being linked to the IISc case. At the time of filing the complaint by PW-68 (an assistant commissioner of police) said the accused number one was arrested in crime number 110/2005 which relates to the shootout incident dated December 28,2005,in the J N Tata Auditorium of the IISc,Bangalore, on the basis of credible information,the court observed. The court has later observed that the incident in crime 110/2005 is totally different from the present case. Though there were no telephone records of evidence value to show that the six men were in contact with each other regularly,the court used records of their meeting to come to the conclusion of a criminal conspiracy and a conspiracy to wage war against the country. In such cases where state interest is involved,it usually leads to conviction even if it were a case for acquittal, the defence lawyer for one of the accused said.
