Criminal Appeal No. 1728 of 2007 and Death Ref. Case (Crl.) No. 1 of 2011. Case: 1. Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, 2. State of Maharashtra through CBI Vs 1. State of Maharashtra through CBI, Bombay, [Alongwith Criminal Appeal Nos. 365, 609-610, 628-629, 637-638, 864-865, 897 and 941-942 of 2008], 2. Yakub Abdul Razak Memon and Ors.. Supreme Court (India)
Case Number | Criminal Appeal No. 1728 of 2007 and Death Ref. Case (Crl.) No. 1 of 2011 |
Counsel | For Appellant: Faisal Farook, Shubail Farook, Rauf Rahim, Priya Puri, Farhana Shah, Satbir Pilania and Sushil Balwada, Advs. and For Respondents: Mukul Gupta, Sr. Adv., Sattyakam, Anubhav Kumar, Anando Mukherjee and Harsh N. Parekh, Advs. |
Judges | P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan, JJ. |
Issue | Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1898 - Sections 162, 367(5); Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 - Sections 2, 4(2), 4, 5, 6, 21, 47(2), 53, 100, 117, 118, 123(3), 121A, 125, 138(2), 145, 147, 161, 162, 164, 164(1), 165, 173(8), 174, 195, 203, 234, 235, 235(2), 260(1), 262, 263, 264, 265, 281, 306, 306(2), 306(4), 306(5), 307, 308, 313, ... |
Citation | 2013 (4) SCALE 565, 2013 (2) MLJ 129, 2013 (2) MLJ 12 (Cri) |
Judgement Date | March 21, 2013 |
Court | Supreme Court (India) |
Judgment:
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 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 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 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 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 Prasad (A-102), Sayed @ Mujju Ismail Ibrahim Kadri (A-104), Sayed Ismail Sayed Ali Kadri (A-105), Srikrishna Yeshwant Pashilkar (A-110), Somnath Kakaram Thapa (A-112), Sudhanwa Sadashiv Talwadekar (A-113), Vijay Krishnaji Patil (A-116), Jamir Sayyed Ismail Kadri (A-133), Md. Salim Mira Moiddin Shaikh @ Salim Kutta (A-134) and Md. Kasam Lajpuria (A-136). The said meeting dated 06.01.1993 was not a sudden meeting but was pre-arranged and pre-planned.
(e) On 19.01.1993, another meeting was held at Dubai wherein Dawood @ Dawood Taklya Mohammed Phanse @ Phanasmiyan (A-14), Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon (both absconding) were present and detailed discussions were held whereafter Tiger Memon agreed to arrange for landing of arms and ammunitions and explosives which were to be sent to India by sea route for the purpose of committing the aforesaid terrorist act. Pursuant to the above, between 02-08.02.1993, two more such landings of arms and ammunitions, detonators, hand grenades and explosives like RDX took place at Shekhadi Coast under Taluka Shrivardhan in Raigad District through landing agent A-14, Sharif Abdul Gafoor Parkar @ Dadabhai (A-17) (deceased) and Rahim Abbas Karambelkar @ Rahim Laundrywala. In the said landing, the following persons also played an active role, namely, Md. Shoaib Mohammed Kasam Ghansar (A-9), Asgar Yusuf Mukadam (A-10), Abdul Gani Ismail Turk (A-11), Parvez Nazir Ahmed Shaikh (A-12), Dawood @ Dawood Taklya Mohammed Phanse @ Phanasmiyan (A-14), Imtiyaz Yunusmiya Ghavte (A-15), Md. Farooq Mohammed Yusuf Pawale (A-16), Sharif Abdul Gafoor Parkar @ Dadabhai (A-17), Suleman Mohammed Kasam Ghavate (A-18), Yeshwant Nago Bhoinkar (A-19), Munna @ Mohammed Ali Khan @ Manojkumar Bhavarlal Gupta (A-24), Muzammil Umar Kadri (A-25), Raju Laxmichand Jain @ Raju Kodi (A-26), Rashid Umar Alware (A-27), Sayyed Abdul Rehman Shaikh (A-28), Shahnawaz Abdul Kadar Qureshi (A-29), Abdul Aziz Haji Gharatkar (A-34), Ashfaq Kasim Havaldar (A-38), Khalil Ahmed Sayed Ali Nasir (A-42), Mohammed Rafiq @ Rafiq Madi Musa Biyariwala (A-46), Sardar Shahwali Khan (A-54), Sarfaraz Dawood Phanse (A-55), Shahjahan Ibrahim Shaikhdare (A-56), Shaikh Ali Shaikh Umar (A-57), Shaikh Mohammed Ethesham Haji Gulam Rasool Shaikh (A-58), Sharif Khan Abbas Adhikar (A-60), Sajjad Alam @ Iqbal Abdul Hakim Nazir (A-61), Tulsiram Dhondu Surve (A-62), Abu Asim Azmi (A-63), Nasir Abdul Kader Kewal @ Nasir Dakhla (A-64), Gulam Hafiz Shaikh @ Baba (A-73), Jaywant Keshave Gurav (A-82), Liyakat Ali Habib Khan (A-85), Mohmmed Sultan Sayyed (A-90), Parvez Mohammed Parvez Zulfikar Qureshi (A-100), Ranjitkumar Singh Baleshwar Prasad (A-102), Somnath Kakaram Thapa (A-112), Sudhanwa Sadashiv Talwadekar (A-113), Shahnawaz Khan s/o Faiz Mohammed Khan (A-128), Mujib Sharif Parkar (A-131), Mohammed Shahid Nizamuddin Quresh (A-135) and Eijaz Mohammed Sharif @ Eijaz Pathan @ Sayyed Zakir (A-137).
(f) Between February to March 1993, the following persons were sent to Pakistan via Dubai by Tiger Memon (AA) and Dawood Ibrahim (AA) for receiving training in handling of fire arms, use of rocket launchers and explosives, in particular, RDX for achieving the common object of the conspiracy, namely, Farooq Mohammed Yusuf Pawale (A-16), Shahnawaz Abdul Kadar Qureshi (A-29), Zakir Hussain Noor Mohammed Shaikh (A-32), Abdul Khan @ Yakub Khan Akhtar Khan (A-36), Firoz @ Akram Amani Malik (A-39), Nasim Ashraf Shaikh Ali Barmare (A-49), Salim Rahim Shaikh (A-52), Nasir Abdul Kader Kewal @ Nasir Dakhla (A-64), Salim Bismilla Khan @ Salim Kurla (Dead) (A-65), Faroow Iliyas Motorwala (A-75), Fazal Rehman Abdul Khan (A-76), Gul Mohammed @ Gullu Noor Mohammed Shaikh (A-77), Mohammed Hanif Mohammed Usman Shaikh (A-92), Mohammed Rafiq Usman Shaikh (A-94), Mohammed Sayeed Mohammed Issaq (A-95), Niyaz Mohammed @ Islam Iqbal Ahmed Shaikh (A-98), Parvez Mohammed Parvez Zulfikar Qureshi (A-100), Shaikh Ibrahim Shaikh Hussain (A-108), Sayed Ismail Sayed Ali Kadri (A-105) and Usman Man Khan Shaikh (A-115). All the above said accused persons were received at Dubai Airport by Ayub Abdul Razak Memon (AA) and Tahir Mohammed Merchant @ Tahir Taklya (recently deported to India and arrested by the CBI in the case being No. RC 1(s)/1993).
(g) Another batch, comprising of the following accused persons, namely, Shaikh Mohammed Ethesham Haji Gulam Rasool Shaikh (A-58), Manzoor Ahmed Mohammed Qureshi (A-88), Shaikh Kasam @ Babulal Ismail Shaikh (A-109), Sultan-E-Rome Sardar Ali Gul (A-114), Abdul Aziz Abdul Kader (A-126), Mohammed Iqbal Ibrahim s/o Shaikh Ibrahim (A-127), Shahnawaz Khan s/o Fair Mohammed Khan (A-128), Murad Ibrahim Khan (A-130) and Mohammed Shahid Nizammudin Qureshi (A-135) went to Pakistan for a similar training, however, the said training programme was aborted and they had to return from Dubai.
(h) In March 1993, a weapons training programme was also conducted at Sandheri and Borghat at the behest of Tiger Memon (AA). In the said camp, training was imparted by Tiger Memon (AA), Anwar Theba (AA) and Javed Tailor @ Javed Chikna (AA) to the following persons, namely, Abdul Gani Ismail Turk (A-11), Parvez Nazir Ahmed Shaikh (A-12), Bashir Ahmed Usman Gani Khairulla (A-13), Sharif Abdul Gafoor Parkar @ Dadabhai (A-17), Suleman Mohammed Kasam Ghavate (A-18), Mohammed Iqbal Mohammed Yusuf Shaikh (A-23), Munna @ Mohammed Ali Khan @ Manojkumar Bhavarlal Gupta (A-24), Mohammed Moin Faridulla Qureshi (A-43), Sardar Shahwali Khan (A-54), Shaikh Ali Shaikh Umar (A-57), Issaq Mohammed Hajwani (A-79), Shahnawaz @ Shahjahan Dadamiya Hajwani (A-106) and Sikander Issaq Hajwani (A-111). After completing the said training programme, A-17 and A-79 attempted to destroy the evidence by disposing off the hand grenades in the Sandheri creek on or about 8th March 1993 to aid and abet the above offenders.
(i) On 04.03.1993, Tiger Memon called for a preparatory meeting at the Taj Mahal Hotel which was attended by Javed Chikna (AA), Mohammed Mushtaq Moosa Tarani (A-44)...
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Crl.A. No. 577 of 2008. Case: Department of Customs Vs Joginder Pal Jain. High Court of Delhi (India)
...not require corroboration. Reliance was placed on the decisions in Yakub Abdul Razak Memon v. State of Maharashtra through CBI, Bombay 2013 (4) Scale 565 and K.I. Pavunny v. Assistant Collector (HQ), Central Excise Collectorate, Cochin 1997 (3) SCC 721. Mr. Phoolka pointed out that along wi......
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CRL.A.--577/2008. Case: DEPARTMENT OF CUSTOMS Vs. JOGINDER PAL JAIN. High Court of Delhi (India)
...not require corroboration. Reliance was placed on the decisions in Yakub Abdul Razak Memon v. State of Maharashtra through CBI, Bombay 2013 (4) Scale 565 and Pavunny v. Assistant Collector (HQ), Central Excise Collectorate, Cochin 1997 (3) SCC 721. Mr. Phoolka pointed out that along with th......
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Crl.A. No. 577 of 2008. Case: Department of Customs Vs Joginder Pal Jain. High Court of Delhi (India)
...not require corroboration. Reliance was placed on the decisions in Yakub Abdul Razak Memon v. State of Maharashtra through CBI, Bombay 2013 (4) Scale 565 and K.I. Pavunny v. Assistant Collector (HQ), Central Excise Collectorate, Cochin 1997 (3) SCC 721. Mr. Phoolka pointed out that along wi......
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CRL.A.--577/2008. Case: DEPARTMENT OF CUSTOMS Vs. JOGINDER PAL JAIN. High Court of Delhi (India)
...not require corroboration. Reliance was placed on the decisions in Yakub Abdul Razak Memon v. State of Maharashtra through CBI, Bombay 2013 (4) Scale 565 and Pavunny v. Assistant Collector (HQ), Central Excise Collectorate, Cochin 1997 (3) SCC 721. Mr. Phoolka pointed out that along with th......