HC admits appeal of 2003 blasts convict facing death penalty

The appeal was admitted by Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice A R Joshi who asked the Maharashtra government to produce Ansari and two other convicts Hanif Sayed and his wife Fahmida on the next hearing after eight weeks.

While Ashrat has filed an appeal against the POTA court order, the other two convicts are yet to move the High Court challenging capital punishment awarded to them. However, POTA court has made a reference to the High Court to confirm the death penalty awarded to the three convicts.

The Court has directed the government to produce the case papers and the verdict of the POTA court before it after eight weeks when the reference and Ansari's appeal would be finally heard.

The POTA court had convicted Hanif Sayed Anees (46), his wife Fahmida (43) and Ashrat Ansari (32), saying the three had carried out designs of the Pakistani terror outfit LeT to create terror in India through bomb attacks at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar and planting a bomb in a bus.
Hanif, Ansari and the blast mastermind Nasir made bombs at Hanif's Andheri house.

Nasir, a resident of Hyderabad, was killed by the police in an encounter after the blasts. While Hanif and Fahmida had planted the bomb in a taxi they had hired and left at the Gateway of India, Ansari had kept the bomb in the second taxi, that exploded in Zaveri Bazaar.

Fahmida had also planted a bomb with a timer device on the municipal bus, which exploded in the Ghatkopar suburb.