Abubucker Siddique & Anr vs State Rep.By Dy.Supdt.Of Police

2. The prosecution case in brief was as follows:

3. On 8th July, 1993, A14 Hyder Ali (posing himself to be Ravi) and A15 Imam Ali (posing himself to be Sivakumar) visited Vadacherry (located in the outskirts of Vaniyambadi-Vellore District, Tamil Nadu) with the intention of causing bomb blasts at a public meeting addressed by one of the Hindu Munnani leaders Sridhar (PW 118). However they could not execute their plan since the meeting was over by the time they reached Vadacherry and the bomb remained unused. However they met Sridhar and after introducing themselves as Ravi and Sivakumar, expressed their desire to meet him at Chennai. The unused bomb was dismantled and kept in the house of A18 Mushtaq Ahmed at Jaffarbad in Vaniyambadi which is nearer to Vadacherry. Afterwards the duo returned to Chennai. On 29th July, 1993, A5 Abubucker Siddique, A14 Hyder Ali, A15 Imam Ali and 4 A17 Kaja Nizamuddin went to a house in Porur and ordered a remote control device. Thereafter they went to the house of A18 Mushtaq Ahmed (absconding accused) at Jaffarabad. Together all the aforesaid accused went to Gudiyatham and purchased gelatin and detonators and brought it to the house of A18 Mushtaq Ahmed. It is further the case of the prosecution that A15 Imam Ali conducted a trial blast at the house of A18 Mushtaq Ahmed and thereafter left for Chennai on the following day. They collected the remote control ordered earlier from the Porur house and checked the same. They then purchased pen torch cells, one battery box, quartz timer, switch and some other items required for blasting suitcase bomb. On 30th July, 1993 A15 Imam Ali and A17 Kaja Nizamuddin along with A5 Abubucker Siddique and A14 Hyder Ali went to the RSS office Chennai for surveying the place. While A15 Imam Ali and A17 Kaja Nizamuddin were inside the RSS office A5 Abubucker Siddique and A14 Hyder Ali remained outside. A15 and A17 could not meet Sridhar as he was out of office. 5 However they met other office bearers and informed him that they were running a cassette recording company in Alandur, Chennai and made an official entry of an incorrect/ non-existent address in the register kept as a record of visitors to the RSS office. On 6th August, 1993 all the above four accused went to RSS office, Chennai with suitcases containing bombs. On the way, A15 and A17 got down near a temple, applied Vibhooti (white ash) and kum (tilak) on their forehead, stuck photos of Lord Krishna on their suitcases. Again A15 and A17 went inside the RSS office carrying the suitcases containing bombs and A5 and A14 remained outside. A5 and A17 enquired about Sridhar from Shanmugam, a RSS worker. A15 and A17 had also talked to Jawahar, another RSS worker and handed over a letter addressed to Sridhar. Thereafter they came out of the office leaving behind the suitcase bombs and waited for about half an hour at a tea shop. However the bombs did not explode. A15 and A17 went inside and brought the suitcase bombs outside and took it back to the godown of A1 Rafiq Ahmed. On 6 7th August, 1993, they purchased new battery cells, cells for torch light and plastic covers which do not conduct electricity. These were brought for rectification and then the bombs were again kept ready in both the suitcases. On 8th August, 1993 at about 11-12 am all the above four accused went again with the two suit cases containing the bombs. Again A5 and A14 remained outside, A15 and A17 went inside the RSS office carrying the suitcases the bombs. Inside the RSS office they met PW1 Srinivasan and asked about Sridhar. After that they came out of the building leaving behind the suitcase bombs. At about 1:45 pm there was loud explosions which resulted in the death of 11 persons, injuries to 7 others and also complete demolition of the building.

(iv) On 6th August, 1993, the effort to blow up the RSS Office did not succeed as the bomb did not detonate. In that attempt, A5, Abubucker Siddique and A14, Hyder Ali stood outside the RSS Office. A15, Imam Ali and A17, Kaja Nizamuddin went inside the RSS Office. On 7th August, 1993, both the bombs were brought to the godown of Rafeeq Ahamed, A1. There, the two bombs were repaired. On 8th August, 1993, the same two bombs were again taken to the RSS Headquarters for causing the explosion as narrated above.

13. On the basis of the aforesaid, the trial court concluded that the A5, A14, A15 and A17 were liable for the charges with which they were charged. All the other accused were liable only for their act of either promoting enmity among the religious groups or harbouring the accused before or after the blast.

15. Quite some time after the explosion, upon investigation, certain arrests were made. A5 Abubucker Siddique was arrested on 24th October, 1993. A14 Hyder Ali was arrested in some other case but was produced before the Trial Court on PT warrant on 16th August, 1995. A15 has died. A17 Kaja 25 Nizamuddin was arrested in some other case and produced before the Trial Court on 13th March, 2000 on PT warrant. We may notice here that A14 Hyder Ali and A17 Kaja Nizamuddin were also arrested in some other case and that too after two years and 7 years respectively. On interrogation, they made confessional statements.

But having recorded the aforesaid conclusion, the trial court again proceeds to record a conclusion which would be wholly without any basis. This conclusion is as under:-

25. We are unable to accept the submission of Mr. P.P. Malhotra that the appellants not being scientists, referring to the explosive substance as gelatin as opposed to RDX would not be fatal. According to him, the confessional statements should be read from the point of view of a layman. We may refer to certain extracts from 38 the confessional statement of A5 Abubucker Siddique, which is as follows:-

29. In the result the prosecution story as put forward does not inspire confidence on the basis of the material placed on record. Criminal Appeal No.1374 of 2007 and Criminal Appeal No.552 of 2008 filed by the accused appellants are, therefore, allowed and the conviction and sentence passed against the appellants are set aside. They shall be set free forthwith unless wanted in any other case.

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1271 OF 2009

1. In view of the judgment passed in the aforesaid two appeals, this appeal stands dismissed.