Sentencing tomorrow

Culprits are accused in Macca Masjid blast too

The Special Court for NIA cases in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on Thursday, postponed the sentencing of those convicted in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case, to March 18.

On March 8, 2017, the Jaipur court convicted three accused, Bhavesh Patel, Devendra Gupta and Sunil Joshi in the Ajmer Dargah case, and said it would pronounce sentence on March 16.

All three are also accused in the ongoing Macca Masjid case and are facing a separate trial in the NIA special court in Nampally.

Devender Gupta is accused of procuring SIM cards in both the Ajmer and Macca Masjid cases. Swamy Assemanand, who was acquitted in the Ajmer Dargah case, is facing trial in the Mecca Masjid case, charged with conspiracy to carry out counter attacks. .

The defence counsel on Thursday objected to convicting both Bhavesh Patel, who actually planted the bombs in the Ajmer Dargah, and Devendra Gupta, who conspired in the bombing by arranging mobile SIM cards, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Counsel argued that Devendra Gupta cannot be convicted under section 16 of the UAPA as he was not the bomb planter, and instead his sentence should be decided under Section 18 of UAPA. The defence also argued that IPC and UAPA should not be clubbed when deciding the sentence. The prosecutor argued that the UAPA is a special act and sections of both the UAPA and the IPC can be applied. The Jaipur court deferred the sentencing, giving time to the defence counsel to produce related case laws and judgements. .