Atikh Rashid , SushantKulkarni : Pune, Fri Apr 19 2013, 08:13 hrs
Himayat Baig broke down in court as he told the judge that he had
nothing to do with the bombing, and that the judgment had punished an
innocent man. Soon after he was given the death sentence, Baig fainted
while being escorted to the custody room.
"Judge sahab, mera iss case se kucch lena dena nahi hai," Baig, who
the Maharashtra ATS says is the Lashkar commander in the state, told
Additional Sessions Judge N P Dhote after the judge gave him time to
have his say before announcing the punishment."I come from a poor family... I wanted to do something for my
community, which is backward in every way. I had come to Pune on January
31, 2010 for a rally seeking reservations for Muslims. I was not on the
run (as the ATS says). We knew that a lot of innocent youths had been
arrested. I was afraid that the same would happen to me, hence I stayed
at home..."
At this point, the judge told him to briefly present his argument on the quantum of punishment. Baig then started to read from a four-page handwritten note in Marathi.
"I am a person who believes in Allah. He knows that I would never be part of a heinous crime like this. I have full faith in the judiciary which believes in the principle that '100 criminals may be allowed to go free but not even one innocent person should be punished..." He broke down, and his speech then became incomprehensible.
On recovering somewhat, Baig continued, "In the German Bakery blast 17 innocent people were killed. Now one more innocent person is being victimised. I am the 18th victim of the blast. To render justice to the victims of the blast it would be inappropriate to punish another innocent person.
"I haven't seen explosives in my entire life. I haven't touched RDX once. This is a conspiracy against me by ATS chief Rakesh Maria, (investigating officer) Vinod Satav... On September 7, I was produced in court for the first time. After that, Vinod Satav took me into his cabin..."
At this point, the court interrupted Baig and asked him to speak only on the sentence.
Baig continued: "I am a simple teacher... I can cite several things which have gone unexplained. Shall I put them in front of you?"
Dhote then told Baig that he would have the chance to appeal against the conviction.
At this point, the judge told him to briefly present his argument on the quantum of punishment. Baig then started to read from a four-page handwritten note in Marathi.
"I am a person who believes in Allah. He knows that I would never be part of a heinous crime like this. I have full faith in the judiciary which believes in the principle that '100 criminals may be allowed to go free but not even one innocent person should be punished..." He broke down, and his speech then became incomprehensible.
On recovering somewhat, Baig continued, "In the German Bakery blast 17 innocent people were killed. Now one more innocent person is being victimised. I am the 18th victim of the blast. To render justice to the victims of the blast it would be inappropriate to punish another innocent person.
"I haven't seen explosives in my entire life. I haven't touched RDX once. This is a conspiracy against me by ATS chief Rakesh Maria, (investigating officer) Vinod Satav... On September 7, I was produced in court for the first time. After that, Vinod Satav took me into his cabin..."
At this point, the court interrupted Baig and asked him to speak only on the sentence.
Baig continued: "I am a simple teacher... I can cite several things which have gone unexplained. Shall I put them in front of you?"
Dhote then told Baig that he would have the chance to appeal against the conviction.
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sc-stays-execution-of-8-death-row-convicts/1099134/ [accessed on 19th April 2013]
