MUMBAI: The prosecution in the Mumbai serial train blasts case today said it would not seek death penalty for all the 12 convicts.
The defence lawyers, winding up their arguments on the quantum of punishment, pleaded that none of the convicts be given the death because according to the prosecution's own case they were mere foot-soldiers and not the masterminds. Earlier this month, the judge Yatin Shinde convicted 12 accused while acquitting one. Serial blasts on Mumbai local trains on July 11, 2006, killed at least 188 persons.
Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakare today said that as far as the gravity of the offence was concerned, all the accused stood on the same platform. "If we go by the principle that all conspirators should be treated equally, then everyone should get the death penalty. However, I would not pray for death for all," he said.
Thakare said he would classify the convicts into two categories: those who should get the death penalty and those who should get life imprisonment. "The punishment in grave and serious offences should reflect the revulsion felt by the great majority of citizens," said Thakare.
"The offence against the state is committed with a view to striking terror and disturb the peace in the community and also to cause breach of public order," he argued. "There is a foreign hand in the commission of offence and some of the convicts went to Pakistani terror training camps to get training in handling of arms and preparing bombs," Thakare told the court.