NEW DELHI: The Delhi Prisons Department has written to a city court to issue a death warrant against LeT terrorist Mohammad Arif alias Ashfaq, who was pronounced guilty in the 2000 Red Fort attack case.
Three persons, including two Army jawans, were killed in the terror attack. “We had written to a local court on February 3. It is a standard procedure that has to be followed. The case is now listed for February 27,” a Tihar Jail official told this newspaper on Monday.
In November last year, the Supreme Court rejected a review petition filed by Arif against the top court’s 2011 ruling and affirmed the death penalty that was first awarded by a trial court in October 2005 and upheld by the Delhi High Court in September 2007. Turning down the plea, the SC had said the aggravating circumstantial evidence from the record, and the fact that there was a direct attack on the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the country, completely outweigh any other factor in favour of Arif.
In his petition, Arif contended that the courts had not considered any possibility of retribution and rehabilitation and that he would continue to be a threat to society. Officials said the 42-year-old, a Pakistan resident who is currently lodged in Jail No. 3 of Tihar, has time till February 27 to file a mercy plea. “He is yet to exercise his legal right to mercy petition,” sources said.
On December 22, 2000, six terrorists stormed Red Fort and fired indiscriminately, killing a civilian and two Army jawans. The Army personnel present at the Fort had retaliated but the terrorists managed to escape after scaling the wall at the fort’s rear side.
Later, Arif was arrested for the attack. He was first convicted by the trial court in 2005, which was upheld by the Delhi High Court. However, the HC had set aside the conviction of six others, including Arif’s Indian wife and Srinagar-based father-and-son duo, who were earlier sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court.
Mercy plea time till February 27
The convict, Mohammad Arif alias Ashfaq, 42, a Pakistan national who is currently lodged in Jail No. 3 of Tihar, has time till February 27 to file a mercy plea. He is yet to exercise his legal right of mercy petition, according to sources.