The Supreme Court on Monday admitted Maharashtra’s appeal against a Bombay HC decision to commute the death sentence of Mirza Himayat Baig, the lone convict in the 2010 German Bakery blast, which claimed 17 lives.
The High Court had commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment in 2016. Baig has also moved the Supreme Court against his conviction and sentencing by the trial court and the High Court. A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah admitted the cross appeals.
The government’s plea challenged the March 17, 2016, judgment of the Bombay HC, which acquitted Baig of serious charges under various Sections of the Unlawful Prevention (Activities) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Sections 302 (murder) read with 120-B (criminal conspiracy). The HC convicted Baig, 32, for offences under the IPC and the Explosive Substances Act.
Baig, alleged to be a Indian Mujahideen member, was arrested in September 2010 from Latur for his involvement in the blast at German Bakery, a popular eatery in Pune’s Koregaon Park area. The blast killed 17 people and injured 58, including foreigners.
In 2013, he was convicted and awarded death sentence by the trial court. Yasin Bhatkal, who had allegedly planted the bomb in the eatery, was arrested in August 2013. The case against him is pending before the trial court.
