The Hindu : Stiffer sentence sought for Parliament attack case accused

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Saturday, Feb 01, 2003

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Stiffer sentence sought for Parliament attack case accused

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JAN. 31. The Prosecution in the December 13 Parliament attack case today filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking enhancement of the sentences awarded to the three men convicted for conspiring in the attack.

The Prosecution has also appealed against the acquittal of Afsan Guru/Navjot Sandhu from the charge of being a co-conspirator. It sought an enhancement of the sentence awarded to her on the alternative charge of concealing knowledge of the conspiracy.

Setting aside arguments for leniency, the trial court had, on December 18, sentenced Delhi University lecturer Syed Ali Rehman Geelani, businessman Shaukat Hussain and Mohammed Afzal, to death under POTA and section 302 IPC (murder), with lesser sentences of varying terms of imprisonment on other counts.

The prosecution states in its petition that the life sentence awarded to the three men, under section 121 of the Indian penal code, for conspiring to wage war against the state was a "great miscarriage of justice'' and should be increased to death. This, the petition states, would function "as a token of emphatic disapproval of the society''.

The Prosecution also desires that the sentence of 10 year rigorous imprisonment awarded to them on two counts of collecting arms with the intention to wage war against the state (section 122 IPC) and attempted murder (section 307 and 120b IPC) be increased to life imprisonment.

Challenging the acquittal of Afsan Guru/Navjot Sandhu, by the trial court, on all charges under POTA and various sections of the IPC and the Explosive Substances Act, Standing Counsel for Delhi Police, Mukta Gupta, said, "we are saying that Navjot Sandhu was a co-conspirator and not just guilty of concealing knowledge of the conspiracy''. The petition states: "one who tacitly consents to the object of conspiracy and goes along with other conspirators actually standing by while others put the conspiracy into effect, is guilty though he/she intends to take no active part in the crime''. However, the prosecution has also sought to increase the sentence of five years imprisonment awarded to Afsan Guru/Navjot Sandhu for lesser charge of concealing knowledge of a conspiracy to the maximum sentence of 10 years.

Admitting the appeal, a Delhi High Court Bench comprising Justices Usha Mehra and Pradeep Nandrajog, fixed the hearing of the prosecution's appeal for February 3, the date on which the appeals of Afsan Guru, S.A.R. Geelani, Shaukat Hussain and Mohammed Afzal are also to be heard.

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