NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has acquitted three accused in the Chennai RSS office bomb blast case.
A Bench, comprising Justice B Sudershan Reddy and Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar, directed the release of the appellants forthwith unless they are wanted in some other case. Abubucker Siqqique, Kaza Nizamuddin and Hyder Ali moved the apex court challenging the life imprisonment sentence handed down by the TADA court in Chennai.
The case was filed by Mahalakshmi Balaji & Co.
On August 6, 1993, there were explosions at the RSS office in Chennai in which 11 persons died and seven sustained injuries.
The entire building collapsed in the blast.
Writing the judgment for the Bench, Justice Reddy said, “Undoubtedly, in this case there was no direct evidence of the crime. The prosecution case hinged on circumstantial evidence. It was an accepted proposition of law that even in cases where no direct evidence was available in the shape of eye-witnesses, a conviction could be based on circumstantial evidence alone.
“Excepting for the confessional statements, admittedly, there is no other independent evidence with regard to the participation of the accused in the conspiracy and the role played by them. It is apparent that even according to the prosecution version, they could have only carried bombs made from gelatin,” Justice Reddy said.
“The confessional statements reveal that what were purchased were only gelatin sticks from Gudiyattam and not RDX or PETN. This has a serious bearing on the acceptability of the confessional statements of the accused and the involvement of all the accused in the conspiracy,” Justice Reddy felt.
“The prosecution story as put forward does not inspire confidence on the basis of the material placed on record. Appeals filed by the accused appellants are, therefore, allowed and the conviction and sentence passed against the appellants are set aside. They shall be set free forthwith unless wanted in any other case,” the Bench ruled.