Riyaz Siddiqui’s fate still hangs in balance
Though Riyaz Siddiqui has been given a relatively mild punishment of only 10 years, he still has the dangling sword of death sentence, over him. The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court that handed over the mild punishment to him on Friday, has already convicted him in a separate case, under murder charges, last week. The special court is likely to pronounce its judgment in that case on Friday.
Going by the present sentencing, Siddiqui, who was arrested in January 2006, deserves to be set free as his 10-years punishment has already been spent in jail, pending the trial. However, the 1993 blast is not the only case for which he was arrested, rather there is another case for which he was being tried simultaneously.
When the special judge, Justice Govind Sanap pronounced his sentence of 10 years, Siddiqui was seen sitting calmly on the bench. However, this ‘calmness’ is not permanent, as the same judge has already held him guilty of murder charges in the infamous Pradeep Jain murder case.
Siddiqui would be appearing before the same TADA court and the same judge – Justice Sanap to hear his punishment in the murder case.
According to the well settled law, a convict of a murder charge either gets life or death and Siddiqui would be handed either of them on Friday. Thus, his fate is still hanging in balance and he is still ‘unsafe.’
Advocate Farhana Shah, representing Siddiqui, said, “There is no good news for my client as he has been convicted for murder in the Pradeep Jain case. Though, in this case, his custody period is considered as the punishment, but it cannot be said that the picture would be the same in the other case.”