INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - May 11^th - MAY 31^st - 2008

SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTION OF SHAUKAT GURU IN PARLIAMENT ATTACK CASE

The Supreme Court has upheld 10-year rigorous imprisonment awarded to Shaukat Hussain Guru in the Parliament attack case rejecting the his petition challenging the legality of conviction. The apex court said that the concealment of the fact with an intention to facilitate waging of war against nation even in the absence of proof of Hussain’s involvement in such crime will constitute an offence for which he can be convicted.

A bench comprising Justice PP Naolekar and Justice VS Sirpurkar said, “We do not find any reason to entertain the present petition and grant relief as prayed for by the petitioner. The writ petition is, accordingly, dismissed”.

After dismissal of the curative petition, the last ditch legal remedy, Shaukat Hussain Guru had filed a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution. It had sought a writ of habeas corpus requiring the petitioner to be brought before the court and to release him after recording a finding that his conviction was in violation of the Fundamental Right guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution.

Senior counsel Shanti Bhushan on behalf of the petitioner had said that the Hussain was serving the sentence under Section 123 IPC under which he was not charged and was deprived of the opportunity to raise the defence. So the conviction was illegal and violative of the principles of natural justice. “It cannot be said that because a specific charge under Section 123, IPC was not framed, he had lost an opportunity of raising the defence available to him and thus has been directly and prejudicially affected,” the court said.

It also dismissed the plea of petitioner’s counsel that the offence under Section 123 IPC is not a minor offence of the charged offences. “The prosecution having been successful in proving the necessary ingredients of Section 123, IPC, it would constitute a minor offence of a major offence and, therefore, the petitioner was convicted under Section 123, IPC which is a minor offence of the offences he faced trial” said Justice Naolekar writing the verdict.