NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of 10 men in the March 2003 murder of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Vineet Saran dismissed the review petitions filed by 10 of 12 convicts in the case. “We have perused the Review Petitions and record of the appeals and are convinced that the order, of which review has been sought, does not suffer from any error apparent warranting its reconsideration. The Review Petitions are, accordingly, dismissed,” the bench held.
The review petitions did not mention any error apparent on the face of record in its judgment, the bench said.
In July 5, the apex court had sentenced nine out of 12 convicts to life imprisonment after setting aside their acquittal by the Gujarat High Court. Others were sentenced to varying jail terms as was awarded by a POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) court in 2007.
Pandya, who was a minister in the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, was shot dead on March 26, 2003, in Ahmedabad while he was out on a morning walk. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Pandya was killed to avenge the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat.
“We restore the conviction and sentence imposed by the trial court on Mohmed Asgar Ali, Kalim Ahmed, Anas Machiswala, Mohmed Yunus Sareshwala, Rehan Puthawala, Mohmed Riyaz alias Goru, Mohmed Parvez Sheikh, Parvez Khan Pathan and A’11 Mohmed Faruq under POTA and IPC as ordered by the trial court,” the apex court had said in its July 5 verdict.