The Supreme Court of India.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea filed by 89-year-old Pakistan national and Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Ghulam Nabi seeking release from a jail in Jammu and Kashmir and return to his country.
In 1995, the top court had awarded rigorous life imprisonment to Nabi in a case relating to the 1995 serial blasts at a Republic Day function in Jammu that claimed eight lives.
As the hearing commenced, advocate Warisha Farasat, appearing for Nabi, told a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan that the petitioner, whose jail term started in 1995, has been in continuous custody since then.
Farasat said when Nabi was acquitted in 2009, instead of being released, Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act was slapped on him and he was again taken into custody.
"The petitioner was acquitted by the lower court but he was never released. The main objection raised in his case was that there is no remission available for terror offences as per J&K prison rule," the lawyer told the bench.
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, submitted that the petitioner is a Pakistan national who infiltrated into India without any documents.
Mehta said he has been convicted by this court for carrying out bomb blasts in Jammu and killing eight innocent people.
Questioning the maintainability of the petition, the SG said how can he file a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution.
"They are terrorists. When they are sent back, they are never accepted. Ajmal Kasab was never accepted in his country," Mehta submitted.
Nabi's lawyer submitted that the JK government is not accepting remission because he has committed terror offence. The issue of he being a Pakistan national is not there, the lawyer added.
Mehta countered the submission saying there cannot be compassion for a terrorist.
The bench then said, "There was even compassion for Kasab that he shouldn't be hanged. Security of the country, nation, citizen has no value?" Farasat then referred to Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and said this court went ahead and directed premature release of convicts even though the crime was serious and of terrorist nature.
The bench, however, said, there is no recommendation by the JK government in this case.
The lawyer then withdrew the case and the matter was dismissed as withdrawn.
Nabi, a resident of Sialkot district in Pakistan, was acquitted by the TADA court in 2009. However, on July 1, 2015, the apex court set aside his acquittal in the case. Later on September 30, 2015, the top court awarded life sentence to him.
Three bomb explosions, which had taken place in the Maulana Azad Memorial Stadium in Jammu, aimed to kill then Governor Lt General K V Krishna Rao. He was addressing a huge gathering of about 40,000 people, including dignitaries, VIPs, senior government officers, political leaders and citizens on Republic Day in 1995. Rao had a narrow escape.
The powerful blasts, which had occurred in the stadium, including one near the dais and another on the road outside, killed eight persons and caused grievous injuries to 18 others.