13 blasts that shook the state

In the month of march 1993 a total number of 13 bombs explodedthroughout Mumbai. These 13 locations were Mumbai Stock Exchange building, Masjid- Mandvi Corporation Bank Branch, Zaveri Bazaar, Fisherman’s Colony in Mahim Causeway, Plaza Cinema, Katha Bazaar,Century Bazaar, Hotel Sea Rock, Air India building, Terminal at Sahara Airport (current CSIA), Hotel Juhu Centaur, Worli and Passport Office. Most of the bombs were planted in cars and scooters.

The infamous actor Sanjay Dutt was arrested by the crime branch at the Mumbai airport because he was inpossession of an AK-56 rifle, a 9 mm pistol and ammunition. After few days the actor confesses about the possession of the weapons and destroying it.

 After a month,the Bombay High Court grants Dutt an interim bail. In the month of November the Central Bureau of Investigation takes the case.

In the month of April 1994 the TADA court discharges 26 accused, the charges againstother accused persons remained. In the month of October theSupreme Court grants bail to the actor which was cancelled by the trial court. In 1996 PD Kode was appointed as the special TADA judge to conduct the case.

In between the year of 2001-2002 detailed hearing of the case was heard.

In the year 2006 the court convicted four members of the Memon family and acquits three. The court ordered death penalty to 12 accused and 20 other accused were given life imprisonment.

In the year 2007 the TADA court convicts Sanjay Dutt. The court punishes him with 6 years of rigorous imprisonment. The actor appeals to the Supreme Court against the 31 July sentence of the TADA court.

 In the year 2011Supreme Court begins hearing on appeals filed by Dutt and 100 other convicts as well as the state.

In the year 2013 the Supreme court uphold the death sentence of Yakub Memon, transfers death sentence of 10 convicts to life imprisonment and also upholds life imprisonment of 16 out of 18 convicts. The court declares five year jail term to Dutt and asks him to surrender within four weeks.

In the year 2015 Supreme court rejects Yakub Memon’s petition. In the month of July 2015 the President Pranab Mukherjee and Maharashtra governor rejects Yakub’s second mercy plea. Yakub Memon hanged at Nagpur central jail. SC rejects a last-minute plea seeking a 14-day stay on his execution.

 In the year 2016 Actor Sanjay Dutt walks free from Pune’s Yerwada jail. In the year 2017 The TADA court announces 16 June as the date for pronouncement of judgment on trial against Abu Salem and other six accused. In the month of June 2017 the TADA court convicts Abu Salem and six other accused.

Abha Singh

Abha Singh is a former civil servant and presently an advocate practicing in the Bombay High Court. She is a renowned social activist who has done considerable work in the realm of woman’s rights, gender equality and justice. She has done an M.Phil on Child Rights from the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Abha Singh was the third runner-up and the lead woman finalist in the Times of India Lead India Campaign in 2008. She was further awarded the Chevening Scholarship to attend the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her talk ‘Honour Killings in India and the Legal Complications of Section 498A” at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London received widespread acclaim. Abha Singh was also invited as a speaker at TEDx Oxbridge, conducted jointly by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in May, 2017. Sensing the call of duty beyond service, she gave up a successful career in the Government to serve a larger cause by donning the robes of the legal profession. Abha Singh obtained a law degree from Bombay University while working as a Government. Abha Singh took up the case of the two Palghar girls in right earnest when she learnt about their unlawful arrest by the Police for innocent comments on Facebook. Due to her perseverance the guilty cops were suspended and the girls were exonerated honorably. Abha Singh has been successfully pursuing the Salman Khan Hit-and-Run case to ensure that the rule of law is upheld and the youth are educated against the hazards of drunken driving.

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