2008 Jaipur Blasts | ‘Incarceration Of 14 Yrs’, Rajasthan High Court Grants Bail To Mohammed Azmi In ‘Recovery Of Live Bomb’ Case

Citing prolonged incarceration despite acquittals in similar FIRs, the Rajasthan High Court has granted conditional bail to Mohammed Azmi, one of the accused in the 2008 Jaipur serial bomb blasts.

“In Rabi Prakash’s case (Supra) the accused petitioner was in custody since the last 3.5 years… the embargo contained in Section 43 D (5)( of UAPA) would lose its significance when a case of incarceration of 14 years is there coupled with other facts of acquittal in other FIRs. Therefore, this court is of firm view that no further detention of the petitioner is required, accordingly instant bail application stands allowed”, the court noted in the order after analysing the contentions of the State which strongly objected to the grant of bail.

Additional Advocate General Rajesh Maharshi had argued that there is ample evidence that suggests the act of the petitioner/accused tantamounts to ‘a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and destabilize the law and order as well as security of the nation’. AAG also submitted that Section 43 D (5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 contains a specific bar that deters the court from examining the evidence on record or indulging in a ‘mini-trial’ while considering an application for bail.

On the contrary, the counsel for the petitioner, Advocate Syed Sadat Ali, argued that Mohammed Azmi has been in Jail for 14 years since 2009. The counsel also contended that the accused has been even granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Special Leave Petition filed against his acquittal by the High Court.

On the impact of Section 43(D) (5) of UAPA in the grant of bail, the single-judge bench analysed the decision of the Supreme Court in Union of India (UOI) v. K.A. Najeeb LL 2021 SC 56 wherein the apex court held that ‘Courts are expected to appreciate the legislative policy against the grant of bail but the rigours of such provisions will melt down where there is no likelihood of trial being completed within a reasonable time and the period of incarceration already undergone has exceeded a substantial part of the prescribed sentence’. The court had also noted then that the bail restrictions In Section 43(D) (5) of the UAPA Act are comparatively less stringent than Section 37 of the NDPS Act.

Soon thereafter, the court also briefly looked into the scope of the identical provision, i.e., Section 37 of the NDPS Act. Referring to Rabi Prakash v. The State of Odisha 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 533, where the apex court once again opined that ‘conditional liberty will override the statutory embargo under Section 37 of the NDPS Act’ in ‘cases of prolonged incarceration’, Justice Birendra Kumar allowed the bail application filed by Mohammed Azmi.

Therefore, Justice Birendra Kumar sitting at Jaipur allowed the accused/petitioner to be released on bail upon furnishing Rs One Lakh as bail bond along with two sureties of the like amount.

Background

Jaipur bomb blasts occurred on the 13^th May of 2008 in a synchronized manner across several locations in the city within the span of a few minutes, which resulted in 71 casualties and several minor and major injuries for the population. Among the nine FIRs registered, Mohammed Azmi sought bail in the FIR registered for the recovery of a live bomb which was later neutralised by the police. The petitioner got remanded with respect to the said FIR on 25.12.2019 though the petitioner has been in jail since 2009 in other cases.

The Rajasthan High Court, in March, acquitted all the four convicts in the case, including Azmi, who were awarded death sentences by the trial court and upheld the acquittal of the fifth accused on the ground that the prosecution has not been able to establish the chain of the circumstances to establish their guilt.  One among the accused was also found to be a juvenile at the time of the offence.

(With Inputs from Rintu Mariam Biju)

Case Title: Mohammed Sarvar Azmi v. State of Rajasthan

Case No: S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous Bail Application No. 9815/2023

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