Judgment

Shah, J.—After trial in TADA Case Nos. 2/93, 7/93 and 2/94, by judg­ment and order dated 8th January, 1997, the Designated Judge, Ahmeda­bad (Rural) at Mirzapur, Ahmedabad, acquitted 16 accused and convicted 5 accused, appellants herein, namely, A 1 Lal Singh, A 2 Mohd. Sharief, A 3 Tahir Jamal, A 4 Mohd. Saquib Nachan and A 20 Shoaib Mukhtiar. The appellants were convicted for the offences punishable (1) under Sec­tion 3(3) of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as “TADA Act”) and sentenced to suffer life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- each and in de­fault to suffer R.I. for 6 months; (2) under Section 120B(1) of IPC and sentenced to suffer R.I. for 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 5000/- each, in default to suffer R.I. for 3 months. They were further convicted for the offence punishable under Section 3(3) of TADA Act read with Section 120B IPC but no separate sentence was awarded. Accused No. 1 was additionally convicted for the offences punishable (1) under Section 5 of TADA Act and sentenced to suffer life imprison­ment and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/-, and in default to suffer R.I. for 6 months; and (2)