LeT terrorist on death row to plead his own case in Calcutta high court
The high court has allowed the LeT terrorist to plead his own case and requested the State Legal Services Authority to provide him the services of a junior empanelled lawyer to interact with him.
KOLKATA: A Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, who is on death row, was allowed by the Calcutta high court on Tuesday to plead his own case against conviction and death sentence. The court will hear the matter on May 17.
A division bench of justices Bivas Pattanayak and Joymalya Bagchi ordered that the convict should be kept in Presidency Correctional Home in Kolkata during the hearing. He was earlier lodged in Tihar Jail.
“In order to enable the said convict to effectively argue his appeal before this court, we consider it imperative that the said convict be kept in a correctional home in Kolkata during the hearing of the appeal. Director general, West Bengal correctional services and director general of police, West Bengal are directed to make appropriate arrangements so that the said convict may be handed over to the custody of the superintendent, presidency correctional home, Kolkata by the police personnel who have escorted the said convict from Delhi,” the high court said.
The convict Sk. Abdul Nayeem was first arrested in 2007 from West Bengal while trying to cross the Indo-Banga border along with three others. Wanted in multiple other cases across India, he escaped from judicial custody in Chhattisgarh area while being taken from Kolkata to Mumbai to be produced in a court in 2014. He was again arrested in 2017 from Lucknow and was awarded death sentence by a district court at North 24 Parganas in West Bengal.
“Nayeem who has been linked in multiple cases including arms haul case in Aurangabad and 2006 Mumbai blast was charged under several sections of the IPC such as 121 (waging war against the state) and the Foreigners Act,” said Kallol Mondol, high court advocate.
The court also requested the State Legal Services Authority to provide Nayeem the services of a junior empanelled lawyer to interact with him for filing pleadings and advancing arguments in the matter so that he is enable to acquaint himself with the procedures of the court. The court also appointed senior advocate Sekhar Kumar Basu as an Amicus Curiae to assist the court in the matter.
