New Delhi: The Supreme Court convicted 9 persons on Friday for killing former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya in 2003.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra allowed the appeals of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Gujarat government challenging the Gujarat high court order of August 29, 2011, by which the convicts were absolved of murder charges in the case.

Pandya was a minister in the then Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government. He was shot dead on March 26, 2003 near Law Garden in Ahmedabad during a morning walk.

Also read: Why the Haren Pandya Murder is Back in the Spotlight

The Gujarat high court had overturned the trial court’s decision that convicted 12 persons for criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder and offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). In its judgment, the high court had sharply criticised the CBI, which had taken over the case from the Gujarat police, for “botching up” the investigation.

The trial court’s POTA conviction had taken place on the basis of the deposition of the main accused Asghar Ali, who had allegedly confessed to plans to attack “Hindu leaders to avenge the Gujarat riots”, reported LiveLaw. The court had brushed aside manifest contradictions in the prosecution case – contradictions that the high court later cited as reasons for overturning the verdict.

Since the Supreme Court judgment text is still not available, the Arun Mishra-led bench’s reasons for disregarding the high court verdict are not known.

The other accused in the case are Mohammad Rauf, Mohammad Parvez Abdul, Mayum Sheikh, Parvez Khan Pathan, Mohammad Farooq, Shahnawaz Gandhi, Kalim Ahmeda Rehan Puthawala, Mohammad Riaz Sareswala, Anis Machiswala, Mohammad Yunus Sareswala and Mohammad Saifuddin.

The trial court had awarded punishment ranging from five years to life imprisonment to the 12 persons.

SC dismisses NGO’s plea for fresh investigations

The apex court also dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) in January this year seeking a fresh court-monitored probe in the Pandya murder case.

The NGO’s case, reported Bar and Bench, was based on “startling information” on the case that was extensively highlighted by sections of the media. It also mentioned findings published in the book Gujarat Files by journalist Rana Ayyub, reported LiveLaw.

On November 3, 2018, Azam Khan, a prosecution witness in the Sohrabuddin-Kausarbi-Prajapati killings case, testified that Sohrabuddin had told him senior Gujarat police officer D.G. Vanzara had put out a contract to kill Pandya.

Khan had identified Tulsiram Prajapati, who was killed in a 2006 encounter, as Pandya’s murderer.

Khan also disclosed that way back in 2010, he had said the same thing to a CBI investigator, N.S. Raju, but he was told not to create “new confusion”

Y.A. Shaikh, a policeman who supervised the first phase of investigations into the murder, had told The Wire that there was need for a fresh probe.

The NGO’s petition was opposed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on the ‘point of maintainability’, citing absence of locus, according to Bar and Bench.

The Supreme Court also took a dim view of the plea and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on CPIL for filing the PIL and said no further petition would be entertained in the case.

(With PTI inputs)