P.D. KODE, J.

1. All the aforesaid proceedings arise out of either-

(a) Report/Direction dated 10th May 2005 given by Review Committee constituted under section 60 of Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred as "POTA") as amended by Prevention of Terrorism (Repeal) Act, 2004 (hereinafter referred as "Repeal Act") or;

(b) Order dated 17th November, 2008 passed on Exh D-116 in POTA Special Case No.1 of 2004 during the midst of trial after evidence of both the sides at trial was over or;

5(c) Final judgment and order delivered on 6th August, 2009 in POTA Special Case No.1 of 2004 of the Special Court under POTA Act for Greater Mumbai.

2. The said POTA Special Case No.1 of 2004 was registered on the basis of charge sheet filed on 5th February 2004, by Chief Investigating Officer (PW 103) ACP Suresh Walishetty at the conclusion of investigation of four crimes for commission of offences under section 120-B read with sections 302, 307, 326, 324 of IPC under sections 3,4,5 of Explosives Substances Act, 1908 and under sections 5 and 9 (b) of Indian Explosives Act, 1884 and under sections 3,4,5 and 20 of Prevention of Terrorist Act, 2002 against in all six named accused in the charge sheet along with wanted accused Shafakat Ali, Khalid Maqsood, Jehangir, Bilal, Samiullah and Rehman.

3. During the pendency of the case, pursuant to the prosecution Application dated 5.5.2004 at Exh-P, under section 307 of Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter referred to as `the Code'), Jehangir Patne (numbered as accused no.4 in the said charge sheet) was accorded pardon and was subsequently examined as an Approver PW2 at the trial.

4. Accordingly, charge as described in detail in Exh-P5, was framed at said trial on 23rd June 2004, for commission of various offences under IPC, Explosives Substances Act, Indian Explosives Act, Prevention of Terrorist Act, and Damage to Public Property Act, etc. against remaining five accused named in the charge sheet. While framing the said charge Mohd. Hasan Mohd. Anas Shaikh @ Hasan Batterywala numbered as accused no.5 and Mohd. Rizwan Mohd. Issaq Ansari @ Rizwan Ladduwala numbered as accused no.6 in the charge sheet, were renumbered as accused nos.4 and 5 respectively (who are hereinafter referred to as `A4 and A5').

5. After evidence of both the parties was adduced at the trial, Review Committee constituted under section 60 of POTA as amended by Repeal Act, gave hearing to said accused A1 to A3, A4 and A5 and their counsel as well as to the learned Public Prosecutor. After examining the Police Report comprised of statements of witnesses, seizure memos and other material, the said Committee on 10th May 2005 opined that the said A4 and A5 were not found connected with the incident of terrorism in the four bomb blast cases and therefore there is no basis for their prosecution under POTA. However, A1 to A3 and PW2 (numbered as accused no.4 in the charge sheet) were prima facie connected with offences under POTA and therefore, there appears no misuse of power in invoking POTA against them. The said Committee therefore directed State of Maharashtra to proceed as per Clause (a) of sub-section (3) of Section 2 of Repeal Act qua the said A4 and A5.

6. Thereafter, said A4 and A5 preferred MA No.42 and MA No.44 of 2005 to invoke Section 60 (7) of POTA and to discharge them from the said case. The same were rejected by the Special Judge, POTA Court Mumbai vide order dated 11th August 2005. A4 preferred Criminal Appeal No.783 of 2005 while A5 preferred Criminal Writ Petition No.2363 of 2005 before this Court challenging the said order. Both the said proceedings were disposed of by this Court by order dated 24th October 2005. This Court held that the said A4 and A5 cannot be discharged directly merely on the basis of opinion of the Review Committee. The Court directed the prosecution to file an application for withdrawal of the case against A4 and A5 under section 321 of the Code.

7. On 18th November