The Supreme Court has stayed the release of Mohammad Rashid Khan, a TADA convict serving a life sentence in the 1993 Bowbazar bomb blast case, after the West Bengal government challenged a Delhi High Court order that had directed his premature release.
A bench of the apex court issued notices to Khan and the Central government on the state's petition and sought their responses. The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 28.
The Delhi High Court had, on June 5, ordered the release of Khan after noting that he had spent 33 years in prison and maintained good conduct during his incarceration.
Challenging the decision, the West Bengal government argued before the Supreme Court that releasing a person convicted in a terror-related case would be unjust to the victims and their families.
The state also pointed to the recommendation of the State Sentence Review Board, which had reportedly opposed Khan's premature release.
During the hearing, Khan's counsel urged the court not to interfere with the High Court's decision.
"The High Court's release order was passed on June 5. Rashid Khan suffers from several health-related ailments. He has been in jail for over 30 years, and his conduct in prison was good, so the High Court's order should not be interfered with," the lawyer submitted.
However, the Supreme Court observed that Khan was a mastermind in the case, while noting that there could not be more than one mastermind in a single crime.
In its June 5 order, the Delhi High Court directed Khan's release after taking into account his prolonged imprisonment and prison record.
Khan had spent more than three decades behind bars following his conviction in the bomb blast case.
In his plea before the High Court, Khan had also referred to the premature release of co-convict Pannalal Jaisura in 2014, arguing that similar consideration should be extended to him.
The case relates to the devastating explosion that rocked Kolkata's Bowbazar area on the night of March 16, 1993.
The blast claimed 69 lives and caused extensive destruction, reducing several buildings to rubble and leaving scores injured.
The incident remains one of the deadliest bomb explosions in the city's history.
With the Supreme Court's interim stay now in place, Khan's release will remain on hold until the matter is heard again next month.
