New Delhi, Mar 30 (IANS): The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) on Thursday welcomed the Rajasthan High Court's decision to acquit all the four men who were sentenced to death in 2019 for the 2008 Jaipur bomb blasts that killed 71 people and injured 185 others.
The court also upheld the acquittal of a fifth accused besides accepting the plea of one of the accused stating that he was a minor.
The JIH also demanded compensation for the acquitted persons besides seeking action against the police team that framed 'false' charges in the case.
In a statement issued to the media, JIH vice-president Salim Engineer said, "Jamaat welcomes the Rajasthan High Court judgment in the 2008 Jaipur bomb blasts case. The judgment by Justice Pankaj Bhandari and Justice Sameer Jain has overturned the ruling of the trial court that awarded death sentence to the four accused in the case."
However, the statement said the judgment raises some disturbing questions. As the accused have been pronounced innocent, it implies that the real perpetrators of the crime are still at large.
"Will the government set up a new team to inquire into and trace the criminals who planned and executed the blasts? It must do so as justice has evaded the relatives of those who died in the blasts. The issue of justice for the victims of the blasts is very important and should not be ignored," Engineer said.
The high court has identified various flaws and gaping holes in the investigation that led to the accused being falsely implicated in the case, he said.
Engineer said, "JIH agrees with the court that the guilty police officers who framed false charges should be identified and punished. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind demands that compensation be given to the five acquitted persons as they lost 15 years of their precious lives in jail because of the false cases built against them."
The high court on Wednesday acquitted the four accused persons who had filed 28 appeals before the court.
In its verdict, the bench reportedly said that the investigating officer did not have legal knowledge. Therefore, instructions have been given to the DGP to take action against the investigating officer as well. The court also asked the Chief Secretary to conduct an inquiry into the investigating officer.
Syed Sadat Ali, the lawyer representing the accused, said that the high court has termed the entire theory of ATS as wrong, which is why the accused have been acquitted.