Appeals may go unheard for years

MUMBAI: The death penalty pronounced on Wednesday in the 1993 blasts case may have been on expected lines but still came as a shock to the three bombers, especially Parvez Shaikh who was the first to hear the two chilling words: death sentence.
There was a bit of irony too in the fact that the explosives planted by one of the bombers, Mushtaq Tarani, had not killed anyone.However, the judge went with the fact that Tarani was involved in the criminal conspiracy at every level.
The sentences however will take a long while to get executed, if at all. There are a number of procedures to be followed in the case of a death sentence. The Tada court passing the order of capital punishment has to refer the matter to the supreme court, which then has to confirm it, and only then would the death rap be deemed to be final.
Even then, it wouldn't be the end of the road for the convicts. They can still appeal against the confirmation of the death sentence in the Supreme Court. All appeals against the special court's order will be heard in the apex court. And even if the Supreme Court confirms the death sentence, the bombers, as a last resort, have the right to seek clemency from the President of India.
Currently, there are a large number of convicts whose clemency pleas are pending before the President for a pardon. Some have been pending for about a decade or more.
"The grim legal future that stares at these convicts is far worse than the death sentence itself," said a Pune-based human rights lawyer advocate Asim Sarode.
Given the enormity of the crime, there is unlikely to be much hope for a reprieve. "Considering the impact of their well-planned actions they certainly deserve harsh punishment. There is little scope for compassion in view of the growing trend of such terrorist activities in India and across the world and hence harsh sentences are meant to be a deterrent for similar crimes," said counsel Amit Desai.
"However, given that the incident occured against the backdrop of riots, perhaps a sentence of life imprisonment would have lent a healing touch to the communal issues which are alleged to have played a role in the blasts."