All convicts were mere ‘foot soldiers’, claims defence

A day after 12 accused including Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, were convicted in the infamous 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, the advocates for all the convicts on Friday pleaded for minimum sentence.

The arguments put forth by advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhary, mostly revolved around the Supreme Court’s verdict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. He cited the apex court’s decision, wherein the death sentences of the convicts were commuted to life imprisonment as they just planted the bombs and were not the actual masterminds.

Chaudhary told the special Judge Shrikant Anekar, to give a minimum sentence to all the convicted accused since they were mere ‘foot soldiers’ and not the real culprits or the ‘ringleaders’ of the conspiracy.

Citing the verdict in Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt’s case, Chaudhary told the court that he (Dutt) was not held to be a part of the conspiracy and was bailed out against the main accused.

Chaudhary tried to link Dutt’s case with the present one and said, “The 12 convicts in this case were only the transporters of the seized arms and ammunition but not the suppliers, and so they must get less punishment.”

“The maximum punishment should be given to those who funded the seized arms and ammunition,” he added.

Speaking about the prosecution’s case, Chaudhary said, “The convicts did not open fire at the ATS team which is said to be chasing them on the very day of incident.”

While urging the court to give minimum punishment, Chaudhary told the court to consider the fact that all the convicts have spent around eight years in jail.

“They were not a menace to the society and their behaviour during the trial showed they could be reformed,” Chuadhary said.

Asif Naqvi, the advocate of one of the convicts said, “The arguments for all the 12 convicts have completed and we have pleaded for minimum punishment. We have tried to show that the convicts were only the ‘arrows’ and not the ‘archers’”.

The special court will hear the arguments of the prosecution, on Saturday, over the quantum of sentence for all the 12 convicts in the case.