NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday denied bail to alleged Indian Mujahideen operative and head of its media cell, Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy, in the 2008 Delhi serial blasts case, holding that national security takes precedence over personal liberty.
A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Madhu Jain noted that Peerbhoy played a central role in transmitting an email titled ‘Message of Death’ just minutes before the blasts, claiming responsibility for the attack.
The court was hearing an appeal against a trial court order dated July 19, 2025, denying him bail. The serial blasts in Delhi on September 13, 2008 took 26 lives and injured more than 100 people.
“Such a level of coordination, planning and logistics was possible only through the deployment of skilled technology, and the appellant was, prima facie, at the centre of it,” the bench said.
Rejecting the accused’s argument that he had spent 17 years in jail as an undertrial prisoner, the bench said, “For such brazen and blatant acts of terrorism, for which the appellant has been charged, the allegations against the appellant pertain to offences of the gravest nature, for which the law prescribes severe punishments, extending even to the death penalty in appropriate cases.”
Therefore, the bench asserted on the matter of bail, “…the long period of incarceration, in the opinion of the court, would not by itself be sufficient to grant bail to the appellant,” the bench said.
According to the prosecution, Peerbhoy, a software engineer, was a key member of the banned Indian Mujahideen, whose primary role was not in planting the bombs but in providing technological support to the conspiracy. Minutes before the explosions, he allegedly drafted and sent emails to media organisations claiming responsibility for the blasts.
Police also accused Peerbhoy of helping create and manage the group’s online propaganda and communication infrastructure. He was arrested by the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in October 2008 and was later taken into custody by the Delhi Police Special Cell.
