Acquittal of Muslims accused of terrorism

In one of the remarkable judgements in India, the twelve people accused of murder of Gujrat’s former state home minister Haren Pandya were acquitted by the High Court in Gujrat. Nine of the 12 convicts were awarded life imprisonment by the POTA court but the high court had acquitted them. Although CBI has moved to the Supreme Court to challenge the acquittal, but the High Court’s decision proved that the judges need to be to be influenced by the statement government and public sentiment, and if the inquiry in the case doesn’t prove the guilt, the case would be deemed baseless. The outlook India report on this link detailed how the crime scene portrayed by the investigating agency could not have been possible.

In another judgement, two Indian Muslims were accused by Ajmal Kassab for having provided him the maps of Mumbai to help him launch the attacks on Mumbai. The court acquitted the co-accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Shaikh on the grounds that the hand-drawn maps that Ajmal Kassab claimed having received were not required as more sophisticated maps were available on Google maps. Times of India reported: Kasab had said that the duo supplied maps of Mumbai to LeT bosses. Thus, they gave logistical support to carry out the attack. But the judge, punching a hole in the prosecution's argument, said better maps were available on Google than the crude drawings Kasab claimed had been supplied by Ansari and Sabauddin.

I often argue that the judgement from the legal system boost the confidence of Muslims in the Indian institutions. In recent past, they have witnessed that there were arrests related to acts of terror done by some Hindu groups, thus, dispelling their fear that the police and investigating agencies purposefully try to frame Muslims only. Such fear gained ground when Muslims groups were accused for bomb blasts in Malegaon, Makah Masjid in Hydrabad and Samjhota express, though Muslims question why a Muslim plant bombs to kill other Muslims would.