Even as it described their acts as ?devilish, diabolic and horrendous?, the Supreme Court Wednesday commuted death sentence of two convicts in the 2002 American Center attack case in Kolkata after noting the law under which they were given capital punishment had been struck down as being unconstitutional.
The court held that ?mastermind? Aftab Ansari will remain behind the bars till his death while Md Jamiluddin Nasir will serve 30 years in jail.
Five policemen were killed and 13 injured in the attack, masterminded by Ansari, stated to be a Dubai-based don. Two motorcycle-borne assailants had on January 22, 2002 opened fire from AK-47 and AK-56 assault rifles on the policemen guarding the American Center. Ansari was arrested in Dubai soon after and deported to India on February 9, 2002. Ansari and Nasir were given death sentence under the Arms Act for possession of prohibited weapons and under also under the charges of conspiracy and waging war against the State.
A bench of Justices A K Patnaik and F M I Kalifulla said the ?offences for which they were charged and found proved are devilish, diabolic, horrendous, vicious, wicked and its magnitude cannot be lessened on any account in our considered opinion?.
On the issue of conviction of the appellants, the bench agreed with Additional Solicitor General Sidharth Luthra that there was ?overwhelming? documentary evidence and oral evidence that sufficiently established the duo, along with others, had conspired to wage a war against the State.
?In the ultimate analysis, the act of the accused/assailants was not a mere desperate act of a small group, but was an act of higher magnitude with a clear object and determination to impinge on the sovereign authority of the nation and its government,? it held.
Dismissing their appeals against the conviction order of the Calcutta High Court, the bench said, ?All the offences committed by the appellants are of a very high magnitude and it has created an indelible scar especially when the offence of such nature has been committed with the support of foreign nationals of the neighbouring country.?
However, on the point of sentencing, the bench said the Arms Act provision under which they were given death sentence had been struck down by the SC in 2012 on account of being unconstitutional. Section 27 (3) of the Arms Act, which provided for mandatory death penalty, was held to be unconstitutional as it violated fundamental rights guaranteed to a citizen.
The court, hence, examined the quantum of punishment again and said that although their acts called for a ?deterrent? punishment, imposition of death penalty was not warranted given the facts and circumstances of the case.
?Aftab deserves to be imprisoned for the entirety of his life while in the case of appellant Nasir he can be imposed with a life imprisonment for a minimum period of 30 years,? Justice Kalifulla, who wrote the judgement, said, adding that ?the role of Nasir was always a shade lesser than what can be attributed to Aftab?.
