1993 Blasts Sentenced - Life or Death.

Iqbal Shaikh was an associate of Tiger Memon, one of the key accused of the 1993 blasts.

'Please take me to the doctor..." is all that he managed to say.  He was Iqbal shaikh, accused number 23 in the thick fat files of 1993 Bombay Blast Case. Little did he know that even the doctor could do nothing for his ‘life,’ especially against the law of land that has sentenced him to death.

His guilt: he was present when RDX was being laden in the vehicles and parking a scooter laden with RDX that failed to explode.

For this weak and falling man, breathing was more of an obligation than a necessity. An indifferent look, unkempt beard, failing health and a gradually eroding sanity added the fatal blows to his already frail body and mind that had gotten weaker with every court date for more than a decade now. I am told that hardly anyone ever came to visit him in all the 14 years that he spent in the prison. His loneliness is evident in his empty eyes. He is incapable of thought. He suffers from psychological neurosis.

And so when TADA judge P D Kode announced, ‘you are sentenced to death for your role in conspiracy of the 1993 Bombay Bomb Blast Case,’ Reality did not hit him. It took the presence of two well-built constables to pick up this man who was lying like a lump on the bench in a corner bench of the now historical TADA court. All he kept pleading with joined hands was, ‘judge sahib please mujhe doctor ke paas le jaiye… koi meri sunn nahin raha hai...’ (Judge Sahib please take me to a doctor, no one is listening to me...)  As per procedure the court registrar communicates the order to him, ‘tumko death sentence diya hai.’ It doesn’t matter to Iqbal Shaikh. He keeps pleading, ‘mujhe doctor ke paas le chaliye.’ Slowly but firmly the constables drag him out of the court. Witness to the moments of history, I suddenly feel teardrops rolling down my cheeks.

After almost 14 years of waiting, the judgements and sentences were being handed out with unsual speed. After Accused number 23, it was the turn of accused no 112, a former Additional Commissioner of Customs S N Thappa. Unlike Shaikh, Thappa had been out on bail. Suffering from cancer, well built, monetarily sound with family members always waiting outside on every court date, and under regular observation of experts ensuring he gets the best treatment. One look at this hefty man, forever dressed in white, and I know that his legal moves and intentions are anything but white. With every hearing my doubts were only proven to be right.

His guilt: He allows the entry of RDX, and arms and ammunition into the city inspite of specific information.

His sentence: Life imprisonment.

Reason to quote Justice PD Kode: (oh!) he is already suffering from a ‘life threatening disease.’

It was at this point that the dichotomy of our judiciary hit me the most. In all the years that I have covered crime and legal proceedings, I had begun to understand that the Judiciary can never cease to surprise. But this was a learning lesson to the point of jolting me emotionally. Disgusted and angry I left the court wondering what kind of justice is this? My heart was buzzing with questions. One who is visibly almost dead is sentenced to death and the other is spared death because he is already suffering from a life threatening disease!! How can this be justified legally??? One might say Thappa will die any which ways. By that standard Iqbal Shaikh is no immortal, death is his end too. Then why should the judge ‘award’ death to the almost dead and ‘life’ to someone who is destined to die… like all of us.

Can death sentence be awarded (as the law books like to say) to someone who is not living at all? Does capital punishment serve any purpose now after 14 long years? Punishment is usually given as a deterrent, but we all know that Mumbai has suffered and survived more than 14 blasts in the last 14 years. All those who are dead are not coming back, and those alive have moved on. Most of the time when I have tried convincing blast victims for a television interview many have turned around and said, ‘let us move on.’ I doubt if most victims are even rooting for revenge. Life is fast and fears and doubts have changed manifold since 1993.

Most of those who have been given the death sentence perhaps have been punished enough by life in a way unique to each one. Having said that, some did deserve this harsh sentence but I wonder if it is justified for Iqbal Shaikh. I know that each one of them is appealing against the TADA order in the Supreme Court. And I also know that Iqbal Shaikh is not even aware that this option exists for him.

I wonder what Iqbal Shaikh must have gone through in that solitary barrack of Yerwada jail. I wonder if he was sane enough to even think in his last few solitary moments. All the experience that I have relied on to rationalize life, seems to have raised more questions than answer some…

That was also the day when I formed my ‘i-am-against-capital-punishment‘ opinion.