1993 Blasts Case: Court to Pronounce Punishment on 7 September

Six persons, including extradited gangster Abu Salem and Mustafa Dossa were convicted by a TADA court in June.

• A special TADA court will pronounce the quantum of punishment of the five convicts in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case on 7 September
  
• The court had on 16 June convicted six persons – Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, and Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Taklya.
  
• The court, however, acquitted Abdul Quayyum, the seventh accused.
  
• Dossa passed away on 28 June after suffering a cardiac arrest.
  
• A series of blasts in Mumbai in 1993 had killed 257 and injured 713 others.
  

Also Read: The 1993 Mumbai Serial Bomb Blasts, Explained

Court to Pronounce Quantum of Punishment on 7 September

A special TADA court will pronounce the quantum of punishment of five convicts, including extradited gangster Abu Salem, in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case on 7 September.

The court had on 16 June convicted six persons, Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, and Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Taklya. A few days after the verdict, Mustafa Dossa, died after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Also Read: 1993 Mumbai Blast: Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa and 4 Others Convicted

Prosecution Wants Maximum Sentence for Convicts

The prosecution had in June told the court that it would seek maximum punishment under the law for the six persons convicted last week in the 1993 serial blasts case.

The statement came after the defence lawyer Sudeep Passbola said the prosecution should make arguments on the quantum of sentence first, as the defence needs to know the aggravating circumstances against the convicts which the prosecution may put forth.

Also Read: Mumbai Serial Blasts Convict Mustafa Dossa Dead

Six Accused, Including Abu Salem, Convicted

Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, and Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Taklya were convicted on 16 June 2017 – 24 years after the attacks left 257 people dead. It, however, acquitted Abdul Quayyum, the seventh accused.

All the seven accused were facing multiple charges which included criminal conspiracy, waging war against the Government of India and murder.

This was the second leg of the trial. In the first leg of the trial that concluded in 2007, the TADA court had convicted 100 accused in the case, while 23 people were acquitted.

Also Read: CBI Seeks Life Term for Abu Salem in 1993 Mumbai Blasts Case

Convicts and Their Charges

Here are the charges under which the accused were pronounced guilty.