‘Unfair Probe, Manipulations Apparent’: Rajasthan High Court Acquits Four Convicts In 2008 Jaipur Blasts Case

The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday acquitted all the four convicts in the 2008 serial Jaipur blast case and upheld the acquittal of fifth accused on the ground that prosecution has not been able to establish the chain of the circumstances to establish their guilt.

On May 13 in 2008, a number of explosions took place in Jaipur, resulting into death of 71 persons and injuries to 185 persons. A total of eight FIRs were registered in the matter. A day later, TV Channels claimed to have received an email in which Indian Mujahideen is said to have taken responsibility of the blasts.

The division bench of Justice Pankaj Bhandari and Justice Sameer Jain said that the investigation was not fair and it "appears that nefarious means were employed by the investigating agencies" during the probe.

"We therefore deem it proper, in interest of society, justice and morality, to direct the Director General of Police, Rajasthan, to initiate appropriate enquiry/disciplinary proceedings against the erring officers of the investigating team," the division bench said.

While hearing the Death Sentence Reference and respective appeals filed by the accused persons, the division bench said "material witnesses required to unfold the events" were withheld and "apparent manipulations and fabrications have been done during the investigation".

The court acquitted Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Saifurrehman, Mohammad Sarvar Azmi and Mohammad Salman in the case and ordered their immediate release. The convicts had been awarded death penalty by the trial court.

Justice Jain in a separate but concurring opinion said the life and liberty of convicts, who are young individuals, is at stake. "As the accused were given death sentence, a very careful, conscious and meticulous approach was necessarily required to be made," the judge said, adding the trial court erroneously relied upon inadmissible evidence, ignored material contradictions and has also not properly considered the legal provisions.

"It is noted by this Court that the Investigation Agency has miserably failed in the discharge of their duties; they have performed poorly, the investigation was not only flawed but was also shoddy and the provisions of law as well as their own rules were overlooked. It is also observed by this Court that the Investigating Agency lacked the required legal skills as they were not aware about the statutory pre-requisites and mandatory requirements. They have approached this case in a callous manner i.e. unbecoming of the members of uniformed posts. The approach of the InvestigationAgency was plagued by insufficient legal knowledge, lack of proper training and insufficient expertise of investigation procedure ,especially on issues like cyber crimes and even basic issues like admissibility of evidence. The failure on the part of theInvestigation Agency has frustrated the case of the prosecution and the evidence so recorded is not fulfilling the chain of evidence," Justice Jain said.

Justice Jain also observed that in the celebrated judgment of Prakash Singh and Ors. v. Union of India (UOI) and Ors, the Apex Court had contemplated formation of a ‘Police Complaints Authority’ which is still not adequately constituted in the State of Rajasthan.

“This case is a classic example of institutional failure resulting in botched/flawed/shoddy investigation. We fear this isn’t the first case to suffer due to failure of investigation agencies and if things are allowed to continue the way they are, this certainly won’t be the last case in which administration of justice is affected due to shoddy investigation,” said Justice Jain.

Hence, the court further directed the Chief Secretary in particular, to look into the matter, which is in the larger public interest.

Case Title: Saifurrehman Ansari & Ors. v. State of Rajasthan

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Raj) 20

Coram: Justice Pankaj Bhandari and Justice Sameer Jain

Click Here to Read/Download Judgment