J U D G M E N T

P. Sathasivam, J.

1) This appeal and the connected matters have been directed against the final orders and judgments of conviction and sentence passed on various dates by the Presiding Officer of the Designated Court under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (in short ‘the TADA’) for Bombay Bomb Blast Case, Greater Bombay in BBC No. 1 of 1993. These appeals have been filed under Section 19 of the TADA by the accused against their Page 3 conviction and sentence and by the CBI for confirmation of the death sentence and against the acquittal of some of the accused persons.

2) Brief facts The case of the prosecution is as follows:

(a) Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was demolished on 06.12.1992. After its demolition, violence broke out throughout the country. In order to take revenge of the said demolition, Tiger Memon (AA) and Dawood Ibrahim, a resident of Dubai, formulated a conspiracy to commit a terrorist act in the city of Bombay. In pursuance of the said object, Dawood Ibrahim agreed to send arms and ammunitions from abroad. Tiger Memon, in association with his men, particularly, the accused persons, received those arms and ammunitions through sea-coasts of Bombay. In continuation of the said conspiracy, Tiger Memon sent some of the accused persons to Dubai and from there to Pakistan for training and handling in arms and ammunitions.

(b) On 12.03.1993, the commercial hub of the country, the city of Bombay, witnessed an unprecedented terrorist act Page 4 sending shock waves throughout the world. In a span of about two hours i.e., between 13:33 to 15:40 hours, a series of 12 bomb explosions took place one after the other at the following twelve places in Bombay, namely, Bombay Stock Exchange, Katha Bazaar, Sena Bhavan, Century Bazaar, Mahim Causeway, Air India Building, Zaveri Bazaar, Hotel Sea Rock, Plaza Theatre, Juhu Centaur Hotel, Air Port Bay-54 and Air Port Centaur Hotel. In the abovesaid incident of serial bombings, 257 human lives were lost, 713 persons were seriously injured and properties worth about Rs. 27 crores were destroyed. This was the first ever terrorist attack in the world where RDX (Research Department Explosive) was used on a large scale basis after the World War II.

(c) The aforesaid calculated act of terror was carried out with utter disregard to human life and dignity. The object of the crime was to incite communal violence and to overawe and weaken the government, disturb social harmony and to break up the social, political and economic order of the country. This overt act of violence not only caused physical Page 5 and mental damage but also left a psychological impact on society as a whole as the lives of several citizens were completely destroyed.

(d) The conspiratorial acts leading to one of the aforesaid object began on or before 06.01.1993 at a meeting in Hotel Persian Darbar, Panvel, wherein the following accused persons, viz., Md. Ahmed Dosa (AA), Md. Salim Mira Moiddin Shaikh @ Salim Kutta (A-134), Md. Kasam Lajpuria (A-136), Ranjitkumar Singh Baleshwar Prasad (A-102) and Md. Sultan Sayyed (A-90) met and organized the landing of fire arms and ammunitions and hand grenades which was to take place on the coast of Dighi Jetty in Raigad District of State of Maharashtra on 09.01.1993. On the said date, Md. Dossa (AA) smuggled and sent a consignment of arms and ammunitions at Dighi Jetty, Raigad in connivance with Md. Sultan Sayeed (A-90), who received illegal gratification for the same. The following persons were also involved in the landing at Dighi Jetty, namely, Uttam Shantaram Poddar (A- 30), Abdulla Ibrahim Surti (A-66), Ashok Narayan Muneshwar (A-70), Faki Ali Faki Ahmed Subedar (A-74), Janardhan Page 6 Pandurang Gambas (A-81), Jaywant Keshav Gurav (A-82), Krishna Sadanand Mokal (A-83), Krishna Tukaram Pingle (A- 84), Manohar Mahadeo More (A-87), Md. Sultan Sayyed (A- 90), Pandharinath Madhukar Mahadik (A-99), Ramesh Dattatray Mali (A-101), Ranjitkumar Singh Baleshwar