The Telangana high court on Tuesday upheld a trial court's verdict handing out the death penalty to five senior operatives of the banned terror outfit, Indian Mujahideen, involved in a bomb blast that left 18 people killed in 2013.
A bench of Justice K Lakshman and Justice P Sree Sudha dismissed the criminal revision appeal filed by the IM operatives while upholding the National Investigation Agency court's judgment.
"Confirming the judgment of the trial court," the bench said.
The lawyer of one of the accused told reporters that they would appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court.
One key accused, identified as Riyaz Bhatkal, is still absconding, and NIA is continuing with its search for him, the agency said in a statement.
Officials said he is suspected to be in Pakistan.
The HC order observed that life imprisonment would be completely futile since the sentencing aim of reformation is "completely unachievable".
"Having given due consideration to all the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, we are of the firm view that this is a fit case wherein the death penalty awarded by the learned Sessions Court needs to be confirmed," it said.
"The appellants failed to make out any case warranting interference by the High Court to set aside the impugned judgment (of the trial court) and the Criminal Appeal filed by the appellants is liable to be dismissed," it said.
In its statement, the NIA termed it as a major endorsement of its investigations.
The NIA special court had, in December 2016, pronounced the death sentence for the accused, and had subsequently referred the trial to the then High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for confirmation of the sentence, it said.
The convicted accused had also approached the High Court, challenging the judgement of the NIA special court. In June 2022, the High Court had clubbed the referred trial and the convicts' appeal, the NIA said in the statement.
After a continual hearing of the matter over 45 days, and after going through all the case records and over 300 pages of written argument filed by the NIA highlighting the evidence, the High Court had reserved the orders in the case, it said.
On December 13, 2016, the NIA court had convicted the five members, --IM co-founder Mohd Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal, Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rahman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahaseen Akhtar alias Monu and Ajaz Shaikh.
Two deadly explosions in Dilsukhnagar, a crowded shopping area in the city, took place on the evening of February 21, 2013.
The first blast took place at a bus stop and the second near an eatery (A1 Mirchi Centre) in Dilsukhnagar.
Two separate FIRs were registered at different police stations at that time. On March 14, 2013, the NIA took over the investigation into both cases.
In the course of the trial, NIA had filed a total of three charge sheets against the six accused and examined 157 witnesses.
A prosecution lawyer told reporters at the high court that the NIA took over the investigation of the case as terrorist activity was involved, though it was initially probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the city police.
The prime accused Riyaz Bhatkal is hiding in Pakistan, he said.
The special court for NIA cases here had awarded capital punishment to five convicts treating it as a rarest of the rare case, the lawyer said.
The high court, after conducting a detailed hearing in the appeals filed by the convicts, confirmed the death sentence of the five IM operatives, he said.
The NIA had filed a 4,000-page chargesheet.
Hailing the confirmation of the death sentence for the convicts, victims of the bomb blasts and local citizens distributed sweets at the eatery in Dilsukhnagar where the blast had occurred.
"Instead of feeding them with public money, the convicts should be hung without delay," Pandu, the owner of the eatery where the blast took place, told the media persons.
Some of the blast victims even lost their limbs, he said and urged the government to provide financial assistance to all those who sustained injuries.
He recalled the horror of the terror attack when pools of blood were visible at the site. Around 10 to 12 people died on the spot.
Meanwhile, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy welcomed the High Court verdict.
"The High Court's confirmation of the death sentence makes it clear once again that violence has no place in a democracy," said Reddy, who is also the president of the BJP's Telangana unit.
He said justice has finally been served for the victims who have been haunted by the terror incident for the past 12 years and added that the BJP would continue to stand by them.
Asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has "adopted a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism", Reddy claimed that the BJP's 11 years in power at the Centre have largely "remained free of major terror attacks".
He added that all political parties must remember not to "encourage appeasement politics" in a democracy.
The Union Minister also appreciated the police personnel who investigated the Dilsukhnagar blasts case.
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