The court observed that the trial’s continued progress could not override his prolonged incarceration or deny him the benefit of parity with the co-accused already released on bail. MUMBAI: Nearly 15 years after being arrested in connection with the 2011 triple blasts in the city, Saddam Hussain Fairoz Khan was granted bail by a special MCOCA court on Friday.
The court held that the ground on which co-accused Naquee Ahmed Wasi Ahmed Shaikh and Haroon Rashid Abdul Hameed Naik were granted bail in April — prolonged incarceration coupled with delay in conclusion of the trial —applied to Khan as . The prosecution opposed the plea, arguing that the trial had substantially progressed since the April order and that only a few witnesses remained. Special judge Satyanarayan R Navander said Khan had remained in judicial custody since 2012 and had undergone about 15 years of incarceration without the trial reaching its conclusion.
The court, however, said the progress of the trial did not amount to a sufficient change in circumstances to deny Khan parity with the two co-accused. It said that the basis for the relief was not merely the stage of the evidence but the “extraordinary length” of incarceration.
“Merely because 24 additional witnesses have been examined after the earlier order does not create any distinguishing circumstance sufficient to deny the benefit of parity,” the court held.
The Bombay High court had granted bail to Nadim Akhtar Ashfaque Shaikh in February after more than 14 years in custody. In April, the same special MCOCA court granted bail to Naquee Ahmed Shaikh and Haroon Naik after they had spent about 15 years in jail. Khan has been directed to furnish a ₹ 1 lakh personal-recognisance bond with sureties of the same amount.
Khan’s bail is the latest in a series of reliefs granted to accused in the long-pending case on account of prolonged incarceration and parity. In August, the court granted similar relief to Zainul Abideen Abdul Razaque Shaikh alias Zahid. He will also have to report to the ATS on the first Saturday of every month until the conclusion of the trial.
