1993 bomb blast convict seeks parole

Mumbai: Bashir Khairullah, a life convict of the 1993 serial Mumbai bomb blast case, approached the Bombay high court challenging Yerwada jail authorities’ order rejecting his application for release on parole for a month on the ground of a Government Resolution (GR) that restricts release of prisoners convicted of serious and heinous crime on furlough or parole. He has claimed that he had made the application for release on parole before the GR was issued and hence his application cannot be rejected.

 Advocate Ayesha Zuber Ansari on Khairullah’s behalf argued before the division bench of Justice V.K. Tahilramani and Justice Makrand Subhash Karnik that her client had made an application seeking his release for a period of one month on parole in June 2016. But, due to some communication that  went on between the applicant and jail authorities for a few months his application was rejected on the ground that as per Maharashtra government’s new GR, convicts of heinous and serious crimes could not be released on parole and furlough.

 She argued that the GR referred to by the jail authorities was issued on August 26, 2016. According to her, Khairullah had applied for parole two months prior to issuance of the new GR and hence it would not have retrospective effect and that he is entitled to parole.

 After hearing the arguments, the bench directed the jail authorities to file a reply on this application within one week. The judges have directed Khairulla’s lawyer to submit the original copy of his application.