IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATE:18 -12 - 2009 CORAM: THE HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE PRABHA SRIDEVAN AND THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M. SATHYANARAYANAN Criminal Appeal Nos.1017, 1018, 1034, 1062, 1097, 1110, 1111, 1130 of 2007 and 8, 51 of 2008 and connected M.Ps. In Criminal Appeal No.1017 of 2007: 1.Asharaf (A42) 2.N. Sahul Hameed @ Imam @ Imam Ali (A162) ...Appellants In Criminal Appeal No.1018 of 2007: 1. Abu @ Abuthahir (A51) 2. Mohammed Rafick @ Kansimitti Rafick (A52) 3. Abbas (A53) 4. Abdul Rawoof (A54) 5. Md. Ibrahim @ Belt Ibrahim (A55) 6. Abdul Rahman (A56) 7. Abdul Karim (A62) 8. Abdul Farook @ Sakku Farook @ Jihad Farook (A63) 9. Sardaj (A101) 10.Sherif (A103) 11.Bakrudeen Ali Ahmed @ Baku @ Bakker @ Vathukalan (A-160) ...Appellants In Criminal Appeal No.1034 of 2007: 1. Moosa @ TADA Moosa @ Moosa Mohideen (A-152) 2. Syed Mohammed Buhari @ TADA Buhari (A-156) ...Appellants In Criminal Appeal No.1062 of 2007: 1.Salavudeen @ Shaw Nawaz @ Shanu (A-102) 2.Yusuf @ Shahjahan (A-153) ...Appellants In Criminal Appeal No.1097 of 2007: 1.S.K. Mohamed Ali (A163) ...Appellant In Criminal Appeal No.1110 of 2007: 1.S.A. Nawab Khan (A4) 2.Ozir @ Abdul Ozir @ Tada Ozir (A6) https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 3.Babu @ Oom Babu @ Umai Babu @ Abdul Majith @ Majith (A9) ...Appellants In Criminal Appeal No.1111 of 2007: 1.Mohamed Ansari (A2) 2.Abdul Salam @ Salam @ Poochaikan Salam @ Poomaikan Salam @ Babu (A-11) 3.Aslam @ Tadasalam (A-12) 4.N.Siraj @ Auto Siraj @ Uthattusiraj @ Tadasiraj (A13) 5.Abbas @ Keelakarai Abbas @ Ummar @ Chotta@ Ismail @ Kalith @ Shajahan(A16) 6.Ismail @ Kathikuthu Ismail (A18) 7.Jaffer @ Makkan Jaffar (A19) 8.Md. Amjath Ali @ Amjath Ali @ Amjath @ Nizam @ Nizamudeen @ Nazeer (A20) 9.Amman @ Ammanullah (A21) 10.Jahangir @ Jahir (A26) 11.Sarfu @ Sarfudeen (A28) 12.L.M. Hakkim (A32) 13.Abu @ Abudhagir (A33) 14.Mohammed Rafiq @ Rafiq (A34) 15.Noor Mohammed @ Noor (A36) 16.Basha @ Ozeer @ Ozeer Basha (A37) 17.Ibrahim @ Babu @ Adipatta Babu (A38) 18.M. Hakim (A39) 19.N.S. Hakim (A40) 20.E.M. Monappa @ Md. Hassan (A41) 21.Abdul Razak @ Gundu Razak @ Razak (A43) 22.Mohammed Azam (A44) 23.Sait @ Santhu Mohammed (A45) 24.Saleem @ Saleem Basha@ Valarntha Saleem (A60) 25.S.Mohammed Subair @ Subair @ Khan @ Yasir (A155) 26.Mujibur Rahman @ Mujib Rahman @ Mujib @ Anna Colony MujiburRahman (A161) 27.Muji @ Mujibur Rahman @ Athupalam Mujibur Rahman (A164) ...Appellants In Criminal Appeal No.1130 of 2007: 1.Basith @ Mohamed Basith (A5) 2.S.A. Mohamed Ali Khan @ Kutty (A7) 3.Zahir Hussain @ Ismail @ Abdul Anus @ Usman Ali (A10) 4.Zaferu @ Syed Zafar Ahamed @ Zafeer (A17) ...Appellants In Criminal Appeal No.8 of 2008: 1.Siddiq Ali @ Siddiq @ Imran(A8) 2.Mohammed Muthu @ Musthafa @ Muthappa (A27) 3.Riyaz Ahamed @ Riyaz (A46) ...Appellants https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ In Criminal Appeal No.51 of 2008: 1.A. Thajudeen (A3) ...Appellant Vs. State Rep. by the AD.S.P. SIT, CBCID, Cr.No.151 of 1998 of B-1, P.S., Coimbatore. ...Respondent in all the Appeals For appellant :: Mr. N. Natarajan, Senior Counsel for M/s. B.S. Jhothiraman, C. Muruganandam for A2, 13, 16,18, 19, 20,26 and 28, 32 to 34 for M/s.S.I.A.K. Bagadursha for A36 to 41, 43 to 45, 62, 161, 164 for Mr.Anand and Sashidharan for [A152 and 156] Mr. Gopinath, Senior Counsel for M/s.N. Manokaran for A11, A12 and A60, A4,6 & 9. Ms.L.Rajalakshmi for Mr. S. Jayakumar for A21 and 155 Mr. B. Mohan, for A22 to A25 in Crl.A.No.1111 of 2007 Mr. S.Xavier Felix for A5,7,10 and 17 in Crl.A.1130/07 M/s. S.K. Raghavan for A3 in Crl.A.51/2008 Mr. M. Venkataraman, Senior Counsel For Mr. V.Krishnakumar & G. Murugeshkumar for A8, A27, 46 in Crl.A.8/08 M/s. S.Jayakumar for A42 and 162 in Crl.A.1017/07 M/s. S. Jayakumar for A51 to 56, 62, 63, 101, 103 and 160 in Crl.A.1018/07 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ M/s. S. Jayakumar for A102 Mr. Yashod Vardhan, Senior Counsel for M/s. S. Sathiachandran for A153, A163 in Crl.A.1062 & 1097/07 Mr. N. Natarajan, Senior Counsel for Mr. Anand Sasidharan for A152 and 156 in Crl.A.1034/07 For respondents : Mr. P. Kumerasan, Public Prosecutor Mr. Balasundaram, Mr. Rabu Manohar Appeals against the convictions and sentences passed by the Sessions Court for exclusive Trial of Bomb Blast cases,Coimbatore dated. 01.08.2007 and passed in Sessions Case No.2 of 2000. JUDGMENT (PRABHA SRIDEVAN,J.) The 14th of February 1998 was a day of unimaginable terror and horror as bombs continuously exploded in the city of Coimbatore. The State of Tamil Nadu had never before been subjected to something like this. It was a massacre of the innocents. The case was known as the ‘Coimbatore Bomb Blasts Case’. The trial court pronounced the judgment in that case on 01-08-2007. Thus, a trial, which had a sweep of unprecedented magnitude, came to an end. But it inflicted wounds on all barring none. The wounds still remain. Violence is always a comma, and is never a full stop. 2. The case of the prosecution is stated hereunder. We have abbreviated the narration of the prosecution case restricting it only to the relevant details: The city of Coimbatore was subjected to 19 bomb explosions, between 14-02-1998 and 17-02-1998, resulting in the death of 58 persons and injuries to 250 persons and huge loss to private and public properties. Bombs planted in 24 places were recovered/defused. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ According to the prosecution, this was engineered by a fundamentalist organisation called 'Al Umma'. A1, S.A. Basha is the founder/leader of Al Umma. In an earlier case, he had been convicted and sentenced to undergo three years' imprisonment for attempt to murder. Thereafter, there had been several instances of communal violence in and around Coimbatore city. This gained momentum after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in the year 1992, and there had been police firing, destruction of public transport vehicles and damage to temples. A1 and others were arrested on 16-11-1993 in connection with the bomb blast at the R.S.S. Office at Chennai. 16 members of Al Umma, including A1, were taken into custody under the Terrorist And Destructive Activities (TADA) Act, but were released, in February 1997. A1 became the State President of 'Al Umma’. According to the prosecution, teams were formed with young men to become 'shaheeds’ (martyrs) in the cause of Islam. On 30-11-1997, an incident took place and that was the death of a Traffic Constable Selvaraj at the hands of Al Umma cadres. This resulted in a brutal retaliation, where 18 Muslims were killed. According to the prosecution, the photographs and video clippings of the dead bodies of these persons were distributed to incite feelings of revenge and violence, which took the form of the blasts on 14-02-1998. To demonstrate their feelings, they chose the day of B.J.P. Leader Mr. L.K. Advani’s visit to Coimbatore, to attend an Election Rally. To execute the plot, various accused had procured explosives, transported them, assembled them and planted them at strategic locations and caused the explosions. 3. According to the prosecution, during the months of December 1997, January and February 1998, there was a meeting of minds for the conspiracy amongst the accused in Coimbatore, Chennai, Sathyamangalam and Kerala. At these meetings, the decision was taken; thereafter explosives were procured from Karnataka and Kerala; the explosives were then transported to Coimbatore by buses and cars; they were assembled as pipe bombs or box bombs at the houses of some accused; they were subsequently distributed to other accused with specific instructions to plant them at the appointed places; they were planted accordingly and detonated, resulting in the devastation. Different tasks were assigned to each of the accused that were carried out by them as per the instructions. The prosecution claimed that there were eyewitnesses to prove its case. The particulars of the cases registered under various crime numbers in different police stations, relating to the accused who have filed the appeals, in and around Coimbatore are given below: https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Police Station Crime No. & date F.I. R. Ex- No. Location of Blasts / Bombs diffused Fatalit ies/ Injurie s Witnesses 1 B-1 Bazaar Police Station 147/98 Dtd. 14.2.98 Ex- P.184 Gani Rowther Street 7 persons killed and 19 injured P.W.1050 P.K. Mohanan & P.W.832 Kumaran 2. B-1 Bazaar P.S. 148/98 Dtd. 14.2.98 Ex- P.154 Rajendra Textiles, Bazaar Street, Mahavir Textiles 6 persons killed and 21 injured P.W.948 Kannan, P.W.889 Kadirvel & P.W.979 Shahul Hameed https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Police Station Crime No. & date F.I. R. Ex- No. Location of Blasts / Bombs diffused Fatalit ies/ Injurie s Witnesses 3. B-1 Bazaar P.S. 151/98 Dtd. 15.2.98 Ex- P.164 4 Babulal Complex, Thirumal Street 6 persons killed and 8 injured P.W.1099 Rajamanicka m, P.W.1288 K.N. Murali, P.W.1041 Chandraseka ran & P.W.1045 Pachiayappa n 4. B-1 Bazaar P.S. 161/98 Dtd. 17.2.98 Ex- P.165 9 Bilal Estate, South Ukkadam 4 boys died P.W.986 Murugan & P.W.984 Siva 5. B-2 R.S.Pur am P.S. 152/98 Dtd. 14.02.98 76 Sir Shanmugam Road, CBE - P.W.466 Vijayakumar & P.W.486 Ravi 6. B-2 R.S.Pur am P.S. 153/98 Dtd. 14.02.98 1304 West Sambandam Road - P.W.448 Govindaraj, P.W.449 Ravi, P.W.450 Dhandapani & P.W.537 Venkitasamy https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Police Station Crime No. & date F.I. R. Ex- No. Location of Blasts / Bombs diffused Fatalit ies/ Injurie s Witnesses 7. B-2 R.S.Pur am P.S. 169/98 Dtd. 19.02.98 20 (Defusion of Bombs) KRS Bakery R.S.Puram, CBE, Intended for (BJP meeting Place) - P.W.1025 Chandran & P.W.999 Arumugam 8. B-2 R.S.Pur am P.S. 170/98 Dtd. 19.02.08 22 (Defusion of Bombs) East Logamaniya street, R.S.Puram - P.W.1062 Senthil Kumar & P.W.282 Thambu 9. B-3 Kattur P.S. 195/98 Dtd. 14.2.98 Ex- P.15 62 Raja Rajeswari Towers, Gandhipura m - P.W.728 Muthukrishn an, P.W.794 Harikrishna n & P.W.1169 Balakrishna n 10. B-3 Kattur P.S. 196/98 Dtd. 14.2.98 66 B.J.P Election office, Sivananda Colony - P.W.818 Nageswaran, P.W.631 Kumar & P.W.352 Sathar https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Police Station Crime No. & date F.I. R. Ex- No. Location of Blasts / Bombs diffused Fatalit ies/ Injurie s Witnesses 11. B-3 Kattur P.S. 197/98 Dtd. 14.2.98 1562 K.K. Nagar Police Out Post - P.W.352 Sathar, P.W.376 Rajan, P.W.1015 Anandakumar , P.W.600 Suriaprakas h, P.W.377 Radhakrisha nan, P.W.1014 Sivakumar, P.W.381 Vasu, P.W.383 Sivaraman, P.W.379 Manickavasa gam, P.W.382 Badrusamy, P.W.378 Mani @ Rotti Mani, P.W.987 Ravi, P.W.385 Kesavankutt y & P.W.536 Suresh Babu https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Police Station Crime No. & date F.I. R. Ex- No. Location of Blasts / Bombs diffused Fatalit ies/ Injurie s Witnesses 12. B-4 Race Course P.S. 132/98 Dtd. 14.02.98 Ex-P 786 National Travels Office, Gandhipura m 9 persons killed and 31 injured P.W.1260 Masanam, P.W.658 Sakthivel, P.W.662 Sivasubrama nian & P.W.1131 Srinivasan 13. B-4 Race Course P.S. 133/98 Dtd. 14.02.98 Ex-P 787 Coimbatore Medical College Hospital 12 persons killed and 52 injured P.W.726 Venkitraj & P.W.528 R.K.Doss 14. B-4 Race Course P.S. 139/98 Dtd. 16.02.98 Ex-P 1060 In-front of Railway Mail Service Railway Station - P.W.1234 Karupaiah, P.W.663 Venkatesh, P.W.734 Abdul Kadar, P.W.686 Dhandapani & P.W.1131 Srinivasan 15. R-1 Podanur P.S. 91 /98 Dtd. 14.02.98 172 SB Towers, Gokul Medicals - Diffused by BDDS Team - SB Towers, Gokul Stationery 3 injured P.W.677 Rajamanicka m, P.W.709 Navaneetham & P.W.627 Sivakumar https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Police Station Crime No. & date F.I. R. Ex- No. Location of Blasts / Bombs diffused Fatalit ies/ Injurie s Witnesses 15. R-1 Podanur P.S. 94 /98 Dtd. 15.02.98 148 Ponkaliamm an Temple 2 persons killed and 6 injured P.W.665 Jeevanandam & P.W.627 Sivakumar 16. R-1 Podanur P.S. 98 /98 Dtd. 16.02.98 150 Guruvayura ppan Automobile Workshop, Kuniyamuth ru 1 injured - 17. B-9 Saravan am Patty P.S. 125/98 Dtd. 14.02.98 113 Kannapan Nagar Hindu Munnani Office - P.W.352 Sathar, P.W.424 Ramachandra n, P.W.425 Vasu & P.W.361 Rajan 4. According to the prosecution, the conspiracy was hatched at different places from 30-11-1997 till 14-12-1998 and the bomb blasts were the outcome of the said conspiracy. The various accused were arrested only in the above Crime numbers but as a matter of convenience and for proper and effective investigation, Crime No.151 of 1998 was treated as the base case. 5. The following tabular column will broadly indicate the witnesses who were examined to prove the prosecution case: Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 1. A2 Md. Ansari @ Ansari 1.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 2.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 3.Tr.Raja @ Lourdhunathan 1055 Conspiracy 4.Tr.Syed Ibrahim 1063 General https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 5.Tr.Senthilkumar 1132 Conspiracy 6.Tr.Nataraj 1152 Conspiracy 7.Tr.Velusamy 1175 Conspiracy 8.Tr.Sanjay @ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 9.Tr.Narayana Rao 1202 Mahazar Witness 10.Tr.Subba Rao 1203 Mahazar Witness 11.Tr.Gopalakrish nan 1259 Conspiracy 2. A3 Tajudeen 1.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 2.Tr.T.R.Kalaisel van 855 Conspiracy 3.Tr.Gopinathan @ Gopi 1017 General 4.Tr.K.Veerapandi an 1028 Police Officer 5.Tr.Idris 1052 General 6.Tr.Syed Ibrahim 1063 General 7.Tr.Sanjay 1195 Conspiracy 3. A4 S.A.Nawabkhan 1.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 2.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 3.Tr.Senthilkumar 1132 Conspiracy 4.Tr.Nagaraj 1152 Conspiracy 5.Tr.Velusamy 1175 Conspiracy 6.Tr.Sanjay 1195 Conspiracy 7.Tr.Ramesh 1199 Conspiracy 7.Tr.Narayana Rao 1202 Mahazar Witness 8.Tr.Gopalakrishn an 1259 Conspiracy 4. A5–Basith @ Md. Basith 1.Tr.Devendran 750 General 2.Tr.Sivakumar 837 Mahazar Witness 3.Tr.Shabir Ali 981 General 4.Tr.Senthilkumar 1132 Conspiracy https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 5.Tr.Ramasamy 1139 Mahazar Witness 6.Tr.Ganagatharan 1158 Manufacture 7.Tr.Satheesh 1162 Manufacture 8.Tr.Muthusamy 1164 Manufacture 9.Tr.Balakrishnan 1169 Transportatio n 10.Tr.Gopalakrish nan 1259 Conspiracy 5. A6–Abdul Ozir @ TADA Ozir 1.Tr.Govindaraj 448 Distribution 2.Tr.Ravi 449 Distribution 3.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 4.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 5.Tr.Kannan 948 Distribution 6.Tr.Nataraj 1152 Conspiracy 7.Tr.Balakrishnan 1169 Transportatio n 8.Tr.Velusamy 1175 Conspiracy 9.Tr.Sanjay @ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 10.Tr.Vijayakumar 1220 Distribution 11.Tr.Ganesh Babu 1256 Manufacture 6. A7–S.A.Mohamed Alikhan @ Kutty 1.Tr.V.C. Durai 958 V.A.O. – Mahazar Witness 2.Tr.Ravi 961 General 3.Tr.Alavudeen 968 Onwer of lodge 4.Tr.Zahir Hussain 975 Mahazar Witness 5.Tr.Shabir Ali 981 Purchase of car 6.Tr.Saravanakuma r 1102 Transportatio n 7.Tr.Subramaniam 1103 Transportatio n 8.Tr.Vadivel 1121 Transportatio n https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 9.Tr.Rajan 1124 Manufacture 10.Tr.Dhakshinamo orthy 1166 Mahazar Witness 11.Tr.Chinnasamy 1172 Transportatio n 12.Tr.Vasu 1173 Transportatio n 7. A8–Siddiq Ali @ Siddiq @ Imran 1.Tr.Easwaran 608 Manufacture 2.Tr.Venkataraj 726 Planting 3.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 4.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 5.Tr.Sanjay @ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 6.Tr.Narayana Rao 1202 Mahazar Witness 7.Tr.Perumal 1205 Mahazar Witness 8. A9–Babu @ Oom Babu 1.Tr.Kaja Hussain 120 Sale of Car 2.Tr.Muruganantha m 556 Sale of Car 3.Tr.Vijayakumar 681 Sale of Car 4.Tr.Sivaraman 732 Mahazar Witness 5.Tr.Sivasankaran 799 Mahazar Witness 6.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 7.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 8.Tr.Vadivel 1121 Transportatio n 9.Tr.Nataraj 1152 Conspiracy 10.Tr.Gangadharan 1158 Manufacture 11.Tr.Velusamy 1175 Conspiracy 12.Tr.Sanjay 1195 Conspiracy 13.Tr.Gopalakrish nan 1259 Conspiracy https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 9. A10–Zakir Hussain @ Ismail @ Abdul Anus 1.Tr.Ramasamy 1139 Police Officer 2.Tr.Ganagatharan 1158 Manufacture 3.Tr.Satheesh 1162 Manufacture 4.Tr.Ganesh Babu 1256 Manufacture 5.Tr.Gopalakrishn an 1259 Conspiracy 10. A11–Abdul Salam @ Poochikan Salam 1.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 2.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 3.Tr.Saravanakuma r 1102 Transportatio n 4.Tr.Subramaniam 1103 Transportatio n 5.Tr.Rajan 1124 Manufacture 6.Tr.Velusamy 1175 Conspiracy 7.Tr.Sanjay @ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 11. A12–Aslam @ TADA Aslam 1.Tr.Ganesh Babu 1060 Rioting 2.Tr.Sanjay @ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 12. A13 – Siraj @ Auto Siraj 1.Tr.Sivakumar 627 Distribution 2.Tr.Nanjappan 875 Mahazar Witness 13. A15 – M.H. Safoor Rahuman (died on 31.10.2007) 1.Tr.Ramkumar 535 Manazar Witness 2.Tr.Chandran 1025 Distribution 3.Tr.Balakrishnan 1169 Transportatio n 14. A16 – Abbas @ Keelakarai Abbas 1.Tr.Mayilsamy (Dy. Tahsildar) 990 Mahazar Witness 2.Tr.Rajamanickam 1099 Police Officer https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 3.Tr.Rajan 1124 Manufacture 4.Tr.Muthusamy 1164 Manufacture 15. A17–Zaffru @ Syed Zafar Ahmed 1.Tr.Anchana Perumal (Dy.Tahsildar) 881 Mahazar Witness 2.Tr.Ganeshkumar 1060 Rioting 3.Tr.Saravanakuma r 1102 Transporation 4.Tr.Subramaniam 1103 Transportatio n 5.Tr.Sanjay @ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 16. A18 – Ismail @ Kathikuthu Ismail 1.Tr.Sathar 352 Distribution 2.Tr.G. Rajan 361 Rioting 3.Tr.Mani @ Rotti Mani 378 Rioting 4.Tr.Ramachandran 424 General 5.Tr.Vasu 425 General 6.Tr.Nagarajan 684 Mahazar Witness 7.Tr.Sivan @ Sivakumar 1014 Rioting 17. A19 – Jaffar @ Makkan Jaffar 1.Tr.Imthiyas 767 Mahazar Witness 2.Tr.Sivakumar 821 Mahazar Witness 3.Tr.Murugan 986 Bilal Estate – Eye Witness 4.Tr.Ganeshkumar 1060 Rioting 5.Tr.Sanjay @ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 18. A20 – Md. Amjath Ali @ Amjath Ali @ Amjath Released vide order of Court dated 5.10.2009 passed in M.P. Nos.1 & 2 of 2009 in Criminal Appeal No.1111 of 2007 under Juvenile Justice Act 19. A21 – Amman @ Ammanullah 1.Tr.Devendran 750 House Owner 2.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 3.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 4.Tr.Ramasamy 1139 Mahazar Witness 5.Tr.Babu 1219 Saw the accused near dais 6.Tr.Santhosh 1265 Saw the accused near dais 20. A26 – Jahangir @ Jahir 1.Tr.Venkatesh 663 Distribution 2.Tr.Madhan 809 Mahazar Witness 3.Tr.Shiva 984 Bilal Estate - eye witness 4.Tr.Murugan 986 Bilal Estate - eye witness 5.Tr.Balakrishnan 1169 Transportatio n 6.Tr.Karuppaiah 1234 Distribution 7.Tr.Syam Prasad 1240 Planting 21. A27 – Mohamed Muthu @ Musthafa @ Muthappa 1.Tr.Venkatraj 726 Planting 2.Tr.Sanjay @ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 22. A28 – Sarfu @ Sarfudeen 1.Tr.Muthukrishna n 728 Planting 2.Tr.Harikrishnan 794 Planting 3.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 4.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 5.Tr.Veerapandiya n 1028 Police Officer 6.Tr.Senthilkumar 1062 Planting 7.Tr.Satheesh 1162 Manufacture 8.Tr.Balakrishnan 1169 Transportatio n 9.Tr.Raja 1184 Rioting https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 10.Tr.Sanjay @ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 11.Tr.Ganesh Babu 1256 Manufacture 23. A32 – L.M. Hakkim 1.Tr.Govindaraj 448 Distribution 2.Tr.Ravi 449 Distribution 3.Tr.Dhandapani 450 Planting 4.Tr.Venkitasamy 537 Planting 5.Tr.George 538 Mahazar Witness 24. A33- Abudhagir 1.Tr.Govindaraj 448 Distribution 2.Tr.Ravi 449 Planting 3.Tr.Dhandapani 450 Planting 4.Tr. Venkitasamy 537 Planting 5.Tr. Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 25. A34-Mohammed Rafiq 1.Tr.Kadirvel 889 Planting 2.Tr. Kannan 948 Distribution 3.Sahul Hameed 979 Distribution 26. A36 – Noor Mohammed @ Noor 1.Tr.Kathirvel 889 Planting 2.Tr.V.N.Rajan 376 Rioting 3.Tr.Kumar 631 Distribution 4.Tr.Nageswaran 818 Planting 5.Tr.Anandhakumar 1015 Rioting 6.Tr.Kanagaraj 1044 Mahazar Witness 27. A37 – Basha @ Ozeer Basha 1.Tr.Kumar 631 Distribution 2.Tr.Ravi 987 Rioting 28. A38 – Ibrahim @ Babu @ Adipatta Babu 1.Tr. Sathar 352 Knew the accused 2.Tr.V.N.Rajan 376 Rioting 3.Tr.Radhakrishna n 377 Rioting https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 4.Tr.Suriyaprakas h 600 Rioting 5.Tr.Kumar 631 Distribution 29. A39 – M. Hakkim 1.Tr.Sathar 352 Knew the Accused 30. A40 – N.S. Hakkim 1.Tr.Muthukrishna n 728 Planting 2.Tr.Madhusudhana n 785 Mahazar Witness 3.Tr.Harikrishnan 794 Planting 31. A41–E.M.Monappa @ Md. Hassan 1.Tr.Sivakumar 627 Distribution 2.Tr.Vellingiri 676 V.A.O. – Mahazar Witness 3.Tr.Rajamanickam 677 Planting 4.Tr.Navaneedhan 709 Planting 32. A43 – Abdul Razak @ Gundu Razak 1.Tr.Sakthivel 658 Planting 2.Tr.Sivasubraman iam 662 Planting 3.Tr.Kamalakannan 1216 Mahazar Witness 33. A44 – Mohammed Azam 1.Tr.Sakthivel 658 Planting 2.Tr.Sivasubraman iam 662 Planting 3.Tr.Kamalakannan 1216 Mahazar Witness 34. A45 – Sait @ Santhu Mohammed 1.Tr. Venkatesh 668 Distribution 2.Tr.Dhandapani 696 Planting 3.Tr.Abdul Kadhar 734 Planting 4.Tr.Anburaj 810 Knew the Accused 5.Tr.Karuppaiah 1234 Distribution https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 35. A46 – Riyaz @ Md. Riyaz 1.Tr.G. Rajan 361 Was at the scene of occurrence 2.Tr.Ramachandran 424 Planting 4.Tr.Vasu 425 Planting 36. A60 – Saleem @ Saleem Basha @ Valarntha Saleem 1.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 2.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 3.Tr.Ganeshkumar 1060 Rioting 4.Tr.Rajan 1124 Manufacture 5.Tr.T.Mani 1242 Mahazar Witness 37. A102-Salahudeen 1.Tr.Moorthy 1133 Mahazar Witness 38. A152 – Moosa @ TADA Moosa 1.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 2.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 3.Tr.Sivasenthil 1196 Rioting 4.Tr.Sanjay@ Saifullah 1195 Conspiracy 39. A155–S.Mohamed Subair @ Subair 1.Tr.Narayana Rao 1202 Mahazar Witness 2.Tr.Sooryanaraya naRao 1204 Mahazar Witness 40. A156 – Syed Mohammed Buhari @ TADA Buhari 1.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 2.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 3.Subba Rao 1224 General 41. A161 – Mujibur Rahman @ Anna Colony Muji 1.Tr.Mohan 1050 Planting 2.Tr.Shamuel Paul 1095 Mahazar Witness 3.Tr.Ramasamy 1139 Mahazar Witness 4.Tr.Senthilkumar 1132 Conspiracy https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl. No. Accused Name of the Witness P.W. No. Nature of Evidence 42. A163 – S.K. Mohammed Ali 1.Tr.Rajan 854 Conspiracy 2.Tr.Kalaiselvan 855 Conspiracy 43. A164 – Muji @ Mujibur Rahman @ Athupalam Mujibur Rahman Released vide order of Court dated 5.10.2009 passed in M.P. Nos.1 & 2 of 2009 in Criminal Appeal No.1111 of 2007 under Juvenile Justice Act 6. The police personnel who have played an important role in either investigation or seizure or recovery or arrest are the following witnesses. P.W.1099 Rajamanickam was part of the police patrol party that went up Babulal Building, where an explosion took place and a case in Crime No.151 of 1998 was registered, which was the base case. P.W.1288 Murali was the complainant in the said case. P.W.1041 M. Chandrasekaran was also in the patrol party and who went up Babulal Building on the fateful day. Similarly, P.W.1045 Pachaiyappan is also an important witness in the same crime number. P.W.1262 is Lakshmanasamy, who effected the arrest of the accused not only in Tamil Nadu, but also in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. P.W.1283 is Pon Manikavel, P.W. 1298 is Varadarajulu, P.W.1299 is Jayachandra Bose and they also investigated the cases. P.W.1300 Rajasekar is the Chief Investigating Officer of the Special Investigation Team (SIT). They are the main police officer witnesses who were involved in the investigation of the case, apart from others, who speak of recovery, seizure or the constables who were deputed for the post mortem examination or the ones who have registered the F.I.Rs etc. 7. We find from Exs-D32, D33 and D34 that the Deputy General of Police, Tamil Nadu had informed the Inspector General of Police, Crime Branch to proceed to Coimbatore with the investigation team for taking up the investigation. This was on 14-02-1998 itself. On 16-02- 1998, the Inspector General of Police, Crimes, Special Investigation Team informed the Deputy Superintendent of Police, PW 1299, and asked him to receive the C.D. files from PW 1141 Chellaiah, and to take up further investigation immediately. Under Ex-D.34, the Additional Superintendent of Police, P.W.1300 was prima facie satisfied that his investigation disclosed that all the 25 cases which were listed in Annexure-II had occurred in the course of the same transaction, i.e., pursuant to the conspiracy and therefore, he clubbed all the cases https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ with Crime No.151 of 1998 as the base case and submitted his report on 28-09-1998. Then, on application for further investigation, he conducted further investigation. Finally, a total number of 43 cases were registered and after clubbing all the cases on 05-05-1999, a final report was filed against 180 accused. 8. Before the trial court, 1300 witnesses were examined on the side of the prosecution; 5 witnesses were examined on the defence side and 2 witnesses were examined by the Court; 1731 exhibits were marked on the side of the prosecution; 108 exhibits were marked on the defence side and there were 4 Court exhibits; 480 material objects were produced on the side of the prosecution. The accused on examination under S.313 Cr. P.C denied their guilt. 9. The first explosions on 14-02-1998 lasted from 3.50 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. We asked the Public Prosecutor if anyone could tell us what it was like during the frightful forty minutes. We were informed by one of the police officers who was assisting the Public Prosecutor that the blasts could be heard continuously from 3.50 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. We could visualize how threatened the citizens would have felt and the confusion, turmoil and fear that must have been generated. Several innocent persons died as a result of the blasts and several more persons were injured. Punishing the perpetrators of the crime would afford the feeling, to the victims especially, that justice was done, but this does not, and cannot mean that without any acceptable evidence, the accused can be found guilty and punished. In an article in the 1985 Law Review, Lynne Henderson (now of the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas) examined the relationship between victims' rights and criminal- justice policy. Looking carefully at the existing psychological data on the needs of victims, Henderson discovered a wide array of victim responses to tragedy, responses that differ from victim to victim and that change significantly over a victim's lifetime. "In light of the existing psychological evidence," Henderson concludes, "common assumptions about crime victims – that they are all 'outraged' and want revenge and tougher law enforcement … fail to address the experience and real needs