93 Bomb Blast Case: Yakub Memon Death Sentence Appeal Supreme Court Judgement: Part 028

Deposition of Badrinath Bishansingh Sharma (PW-29)

(i) PW-29 is a hawker at Zaveri Bazaar. He is an eye-witness to the blast. He testified that on 12.03.1993, he saw a person trying to park a scooter in front of the shop of Narayandas Jewellers at Zaveri Bazaar which fell down. PW-29 offered to help him in lifting the scooter but the appellant (A-9) refused to take any help.

(ii) He remembered the colour of the scooter as grey and noted its number on a cigarette pack. The said packet was handed over to the police on 18.03.1993 which was seized by seizure Panchnama Exh. No. 1878 proved by Nisar Ahmed Kankarbhai Shaikh (PW-550). PW-29 also identified the said cigarette packet.

(iii) He also described about the site of the blast and stated that several persons were killed and injured in the blast including himself who got injured in his right leg.

(v) PW-29 identified the appellant (A-9) in the identification parade held at Sacred Hearts School, Worli on 25.03.1993 as the person who parked the said scooter on 12.03.1993 at Zaveri Bazaar.

(vi) PW-29 again identified the appellant (A-9) on 13.05.1993 in the identification parade held at the office of CID in Crawford Market. A perusal of the deposition establishes the fact that the appellant (A-9) parked the scooter laden with explosives at Zaveri Bazaar. Ms. Farhana Shah, learned counsel for the appellant (A-9) contended that PW-29 is an unreliable witness and his deposition should be discarded since he did not disclose the number of the scooter or inform anyone until he had seen the appellant even after five days of the blasts on 12.03.1993. It is relevant to point out that PW-29 was also injured in the said blast and thereafter, he went to his house. The police had cordoned off the area. On the sixth day after the blasts, PW-29 came to the market and informed the police that he could identify the person who had parked the scooter at Zaveri Bazaar. PW-29 actually identified the appellant in the Test Identification Parade conducted on 25.03.1993 and 13.05.1993 as the person who parked the scooter at Zaveri Bazaar.

Deposition of Amit Champalal Acharya (PW-36)

(i) PW-36, who is an Estate Agent, is an eyewitness to the incident.

(ii) When he was standing in front of the shop of Narayandas Jewellers on the fateful day, a scooterist (A-9), lost his balance while parking his scooter in front of the shop and fell down. One passerby tried to help him but he refused angrily.

(iii) He further testified that the scooterist (A-9) left hurriedly after parking the scooter. This further shows that he was aware that there was a bomb inside the scooter which could explode anytime.

(iv) He identified the appellant (A-9) in the identification parade held on 13.05.1993 at the office of CID in Crawford Market. Ms. Farhana Shah, learned counsel contended on behalf of the appellant (A-

9) that the deposition of this witness should be discarded since PW-36 failed to identify the appellant in the court when he was given opportunity twice. The prosecution submits that non-identification of A-9 in the Court would not make the deposition of PW-36 unreliable as he did identify the appellant (A-9) in the identification parade held on 13.05.1993. The identification parade took place shortly after the blasts but the identification in court took place only on 12.01.1996, which is almost after three years, thus it is possible that due to passage of time PW-36 was unable to identify the appellant before the court. The prosecution further submits that this does not impeach the deposition made by PW-36 since his evidence is sufficiently corroborated by the deposition of PW-29 in all material aspects. The prosecution has brought to our notice that the identification parade dated 25.03.1993 was conducted at Sacred Hearts High School by Ram S. Bhosale (PW-460), who conducted the parade in compliance with the provisions of the Code. PW-460 also recognized Exh.1471, i.e., memorandum panchnama prepared during the parade. PW-460 further stated that no police official was present in the parade room at the time of the parade and that the appellant (A-9) was brought into the parade room wearing a cover (chadar) so as not to reveal his identity. Deposition of Moreshwar Gopal Thakur (PW-469) Special Executive Magistrate (PW-469) conducted the identification parade in respect of A-9. Exh. 1510 is the memorandum of the TIP dated 13.05.1993. The following information is available in the said memorandum:-

(i) TIP memorandum records that a TIP was conducted by SEM Shri Thakur (PW-460) on 13.05.1993.

(ii) The first witness – PW-29 identified the appellant as the person who parked the scooter at Zaveri Bazaar on 12.03.1993.

(iii) The second witness – PW-36 also identified the appellant as the person who parked the scooter at Zaveri Bazaar on 12.03.1993.

Evidence with regard to recovery of the keys of the Scooter:

Deposition of Narsingh Tukaram Sherkhan (PW-556)

345) PW-556, a police officer, recorded the Disclosure Statement made by the appellant on 21.03.1993 to the following effect: The appellant (A-9) said to the officer:

“Come with me, I will show you the place, where I had thrown the keys of the scooter, after I parked the said Bajaj Scooter laden with explosives” The said statement was recorded vide Disclosure memo Exh.199 in the presence of Panch Witnesses. Pursuant to the said disclosure, the appellant (A-9) led the police party and the same was recorded in the Panchnama (Exh. 200) to the following effect:

“Upon making the statement by the accused in pursuance of the aforesaid panchnama, we the panchas, Police party and the accused Mohammed Shoeb Mohammed Kasam Ghansar, Muslim, aged 30 years sat in the police jeep Number MH-01-M-364 and as per the instruction of the accused, the jeep Driver of P. N. 1938 Mahim Police Station drove the jeep by L. J. Road, Tilak Bridge, Dadar T.T., Ambedkar Road, Ibrahim Rahimatulla Road, Bhendi Bazar and after the jeep reached at Johar chowk via Mohammed Ali Road the accused asked the Jeep Driver to halt the vehicle (jeep) and thereupon the jeep driver halted the jeep. Thereafter the accused person, we the panchas and the police party got down from the jeep. Thereafter, as per the instruction of the accused, we the panchas, police party crossed the Mohammed Ali Road·and came to the open space in front of the office of ‘Time Travel & Tour’ on the Western side foot path and on coming at the said place, pointed at a gutter on Mohammed Ali Road, situated on the opposite side of the ‘Time Travel & Tour’ and the accused also pointed that the key was thrown therein. The said gutter is at a distance of 10 feet from the said office. On the said gutter there are two cement lids and below the same there is a cement grille. In the presence of us, the panchas, distance was measured from the said gutter which distance from the Electric pole MHL 53 is 12 feet.

The accused push aside the cement lid on the said gutter and dipped his hand in the said gutter and removed a below described key from the silt of the gutter when the police in the presence of us, the panchas, observed the key removed by the accused, the description of the said key is as follows.

There are two keys in one steel ring and on one side of both the said keys, ‘Bajaj’ has been inscribed in English and below the same ‘2-112’ has been inscribed and on the another side the letters K. V. P. has been inscribed in English and the same were smeared with the earth.” It is brought to our notice by the prosecution that these were the keys of the scooter used in the blast at Zaveri Bazaar and this recovery, therefore, also established the fact that the appellant (A-9) had parked the scooter at Zaveri Bazaar on 12.03.1993 and threw the keys in the gutter after parking the same. The prosecution submitted that the appellant further led the police party to recover his passport and driving licence.

Deposition of Kamalakar Kashinath Deo (PW-51)

The evidence of PW-556 is further corroborated with the evidence of panch witness Kamalakar Kashinath Deo (PW-51) wherein he stated that the appellant (A-9) had made a voluntary statement in his presence on 21.03.1993 and disclosed the location of the keys of the scooter.

346) It has been contended on behalf of the appellant that the deposition of PW-51 should not be relied upon since the gutter from where the keys were recovered had a manhole, and therefore, the investigating agency has planted the keys. To this, the prosecution pointed out that PW-51 is a panch witness and has identified the appellant as the person who offered to take the police party to the place where the keys of the scooter had been thrown by him and were infact recovered from the said gutter after duly opening the manhole. It is further pointed out that PW-51 withstood the rigorous cross-examination and is a credible witness.

347) It has also been contended on behalf of the appellant that the evidence of PW-556 is unreliable due to various contradictions. It is pointed out by the prosecution that there is no contradiction in the deposition of PW-556 and on going through the same, we feel that the contradictions pointed out on behalf of the appellant (A-9) were minor contradictions and they do not go to the root of the matter so as to discredit the testimony of the witness.

FOR FULL JUDGEMENT, PLEASE CHECK THE LINKS BELOW:

93 Bomb Blast Case: Yakub Memon Death Sentence Appeal Supreme Court Judgement:

Part 001 / Part 002 / Part 003 / Part 004 / Part 005 / Part 006 / Part 007 / Part 008 / Part 009 / Part 010 / Part 011 / Part 012 / Part 013 / Part 014 / Part 015 / Part 016 / Part 017 / Part 018 / Part 019 / Part 020 / Part 021 / Part 022 / Part 023 / Part 024 / Part 025 / Part 026 / Part 027 / Part 028 / Part 029 / Part 030 / Part 031 / Part 032 / Part 033 / Part 034 / Part 035 / Part 036 / Part 037 / Part 038 / Part 039 / Part 040 / Part 041 / Part 042 / Part 043 / Part 044 / Part 045

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Supreme Court Of India, Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, Death Sentence, Confirmed, Sentence, Appeal, Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Momon, 93 Bomb Blast, Mumbai Bomb Blast, Don, Gangster, Mafia, Sanjay Dutt, Death Penalty, Serial Blast, Mumbai, maharashtra, India, State Of Maharashtra, CBI, Prosecution, Babri Masjid, Ayodhya, demolition, violence, terrorist, Bombay, arms, ammunitions, conspiracy, Dubai, Pakistan, training, Bombay Stock Exchange, Katha Bazaar, Sena Bhavan, Century Bazaar, Mahim Causeway, Air India Building, Zaveri Bazaar, Hotel Sea Rock, Plaza Theatre, Juhu Centaur Hotel, AirPort Bay-54, AirPort Centaur Hotel, terrorist attack, terror, RDX, Research Department Explosive, Md. Ahmed Dosa, Md. Salim Mira Moiddin Shaikh @ Salim Kutta, Md. Kasam Lajpuria, Ranjitkumar Singh Baleshwar Prasad, Md. Sultan Sayyed, Dighi Jetty, Raigad, Uttan,

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