Gujarat High Court rejects bail plea of ​​man sentenced to life in Haren Pandya murder case after state rejects plea for remission

Last week, the Gujarat High Court dismissed as infructuous the petition filed by Anas Abdul Rashid Machiswala – one of the 12 accused sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of former state home minister Haren Pandya – seeking release from jail.

The High Court acted following an August 21 order by the state government’s home ministry that dismissed Machiswala’s plea for remission.

When the case was registered in May this year, the Machiswala had contended that he had served about 14 years in jail and his application for remission was pending before the competent authority.

A single judge bench Justice Nirzar S Desai In his September 11 order, he took note of the State’s submission regarding the Home Ministry’s decision on Machiswala’s application for remission.

The court was informed that Machiswala was on parole and it was requested that he be ordered to surrender. In the meantime, Machiswala’s lawyer has asked the High Court to extend the parole by ten days to enable his client to challenge the Home Ministry’s August order.

After hearing the arguments, the High Court said: “In view of the above-mentioned request, the application is dismissed, as it has become moot in view of the order of 21.08.2024. However, the applicant’s conditional release is extended by ten days, starting from the date on which the applicant is required to surrender, in order to enable him to challenge the order of 21.08.2024 issued by the Ministry of the Interior. The rule is lifted“.

Background

The case was heard and tried jointly with a case of attempt to murder of Jagdish Tiwari, a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Ahmedabad, which occurred two weeks before the murder of former home minister Pandya in 2003. The trial court had convicted all 12 accused in both cases. The Gujarat High Court had set aside their conviction in the murder conspiracy case, though the conviction in the attempt to murder case stood.

In 2019, the Supreme Court had restored the conviction and sentence of 12 accused in the case following appeals filed by the CBI and the Gujarat government challenging the acquittal of 12 people accused of murdering former state home minister Haren Pandya in 2003.

File title: ANAS ABDUL RASHID MACHISWALA v. STATE OF GUJARAT AND ORS

Click here to download the order