Delhi HC issues notice to NIA on terror convict's plea for concurrent sentences
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Feb, 2023 12:58 PM
New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from the NIA on a plea by a convicted terrorist praying to make two sentences - one by Special Court in Greater Mumbai and the second by Delhi's Patiala House Court - run concurrent.
Mohsin Ibrahim Sayyed was convicted in January 2022 in the Malvani ISIS case on charges of trying to radicalise Muslim youths to join the Islamic State terror group in India and by the Patiala House Court last year in June for conspiracy to perform a terror strike during the Ardh Kumbh Mela at Haridwar.
He was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and seven years imprisonment by the Greater Mumbai court and Delhi court, respectively.
A single-judge bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani issued a notice, returnable in six weeks to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sayyed's petition.
Sayyed's counsel informed the court that he is not challenging the petitioner's conviction and sentence by the Delhi court, but that his conviction and sentence of imprisonment by the Greater Mumbai was not brought to the notice of the Delhi court and hence a direction to run the two sentences together should be passed by this court.
"I am not impugning the special court's order. The fact of my previous conviction was not placed before the special court. I am seeking the High Court to invoke its power under Section 226 to do that which is not prohibited under the NIA Act. I am not challenging the mode it should be given in," counsel said.
However, NIA's counsel opposed the plea and argued that the petition is not maintainable.
The plea states that Sayyed, who voluntarily pleaded guilty with the intention of reforming himself, was an auto-rickshaw driver before his arrest and has to support his aged parents, wife, and two minor children.
"The petitioner is a young, poor, and illiterate man who, upon realising the error of his ways as a result of being misguided; voluntarily plead guilty to the charges framed against him, with the intention of reforming himself, attaining education, and becoming a productive member of society," his plea said.
It also said that courts ought to not ignore a circumstance where a convict is already serving a sentence of imprisonment, and should try to ensure that the totality of the sentences is correct, and argued that "a court can, even when substantive sentences of imprisonment have been imposed by courts in different trials/convictions, direct the concurrent running of such separate sentence".
A video showing the woman's ordeal has gone viral on social media in which she is seen lying on the ground in a public place. The incident took place on Thursday and the woman, identified as Kalpana, was "turned back without check-up".
The Chief Minister, while interacting with the media after reviewing the progress of development projects worth Rs 167 crore in the city, said it is ironic that the Maharajas in power were more concerned about their own development rather than that of the city. He said though Patiala was known as 'City of Gardens' but due to apathy of those in power, the city lost its shine in the last few years.
Punjab Police's former Head Constable Gagandeep Singh, who planted the bomb at the court complex on December 23, 2021, was killed as it suddenly went off. Six others were injured. The case was initially registered at a Ludhiana police station, but later, it was taken over by the NIA.
Her statement comes after she was dragged by a man when she had gone for an inspection at AIIMS in the early hours of January 19. The man had started making lewd and vulgar gestures towards Maliwal and she was reprimanding him when he asked her to sit in his car, the man suddenly pulled the car glass up and hand of Maliwal got stuck in car's window,
The incident occurred on November 26 last year when the drunk passenger allegedly urinated on a co-passenger in her 70s in the business class of an Air India flight from New York to Delhi. Aviation regulator DGCA on January 5 had said that the conduct of Air India was unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure.
In a surprise move, the Uttar Pradesh government, on Thursday, opposed the bail plea of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son, who is one of the accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, in the Supreme Court. Additional Advocate General for Uttar Pradesh Garima Prasad told a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice J.K. Maheshwari that the crime is "grave".
