The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the death penalty of Indian Mujahideen operative Ahmed Bawa alias Abbu Abubakar Barelvi, who was condemned for his role in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bombings that claimed 56 lives.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, AG Masih, and Sandeep Mehta called for the original trial court records and issued formal notice to the Gujarat government on Bawa’s appeal challenging his capital sentence. Appearing in the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that the matter involves an exceptionally grave offence.
High Court Upheld Capital Sentences For 38 Operatives
Bawa approached the apex court against a July 7 ruling of the Gujarat High Court, which had confirmed capital punishment for 38 Indian Mujahideen members and life terms for 11 others. The high court had rejected all appeals by the convicts while accepting the state government’s plea to affirm the death sentences handed down by a special court in February 2022.
In affirming the capital punishment, the high court noted that the perpetrators executed an inhuman and remorseless attack designed to create widespread terror. The judges highlighted the massive scale of the conspiracy, the heavy casualty toll, and the absence of any remorse among the convicts, noting that disciplinary infractions were recorded against several of them while in prison. The high court observed that the trial court had weighed both aggravating and mitigating factors before ruling out any possibility of leniency.
Regarding the 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment, the high court affirmed that investigators had firmly established their roles in running terror training camps in Gujarat and Kerala, sheltering co-conspirators, and procuring logistical supplies such as clocks, plastic containers, and scooters used in the bombings. The high court also sustained the monetary penalties imposed on the convicts and ordered the Gujarat government to release compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of each deceased victim and Rs 5 lakh to each grievously injured person before March 30, 2027.
Unprecedented Death Penalties In Landmark Trial
The bombings occurred on July 26, 2008, when 21 synchronized explosions tore across multiple neighborhoods in Ahmedabad over a span of 70 minutes. More than 200 people sustained injuries alongside the 56 fatalities. The assault also marked the first instance in India where terror strikes deliberately targeted hospital premises as casualties were being brought in for emergency medical care.
The subsequent legal proceedings brought together 35 separate police complaints—20 filed after the Ahmedabad blasts and 15 related to unexploded ordnance discovered in Surat. A total of 78 accused underwent a unified trial, culminating in the conviction of 49 individuals by the special court. Those convicted include former Students Islamic Movement of India leader Safdar Nagori and associates from 11 states, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh.
The February 2022 verdict by the special court established a legal precedent as the highest number of convicts ever sentenced to death in a single trial in Indian judicial history. The previous highest total occurred in January 1998, when a TADA court in Tamil Nadu sentenced 26 individuals to capital punishment for the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
