2 weeks Ago
The bicycle on which a bomb was found planted on Jangli Maharaj road in Pune on Aug 1, 2012. The bomb was defused MUMBAI: Bombay high court on Friday granted bail to Munib Memon , an accused in the 2012 Pune's Jangli Maharaj Road serial blasts, on a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh with one or two sureties of like amount. Memon, through his advocate Mubin Solkar, sought bail on the ground of prolonged incarceration and pre-trial detention of more than 12 years, and violation of his fundamental right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution.
He was arrested in 2012. Solkar said the trial was moving slowly and therefore the principle of 'bail is rule and jail is exception' applied even to special anti-terror laws like UAPA , and therefore his client was entitled to bail on account of his prolonged incarceration, which itself amounted to punishment without trial. The public prosecutor submitted that the earlier bail application of the accused had already been rejected by the high court and therefore a long period of custody cannot be a ground to grant him bail as the charges against him were serious.
Earlier in 2022, observing that prima facie, there were no reasonable grounds for believing that the appellant was not guilty of the charges, and that the claims against him seemed true, the high court had rejected Memon's bail plea on merits. The explosions at Pune's Jangli Maharaj Road on Aug 1, 2012, had taken place within minutes, injuring one person; and an unexploded bomb was also defused. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested eight men including Memon.
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