CBI may appeal against Shaikh’s acquittal

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) may appeal against the acquittal of Abdul Qayyum Shaikh in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case by a special TADA court on Friday, said agency sources. The agency is awaiting the completion of the trial, wherein the quantum of punishment for the six convicted in the case by the special TADA court is to be decided, to take a final call on the appeal, said sources.

“The CBI is likely to appeal against the acquittal of Shaikh, against whom we had gathered a set of evidence. For now, we are waiting for the quantum of punishment for the accused to be pronounced. We are seeking maximum punishment for the convicts,” said an agency source. According to the source, the agency will “study” the grounds on which Shaikh was acquitted once it gets a copy of the court order and then seek legal advice on the next course of action by it. An appeal against the acquittal can be submitted in the Supreme Court. The special TADA court had acquitted Shaikh from all the charges which were levelled against him by the CBI. The court had observed that the prosecution had failed to prove the charge of conspiracy slapped against Shaikh. The court said that evidence held are not credible and therefore did not find him guilty of any charges.

According to the CBI, Shaikh was allegedly a close aide of accused Dawood Ibrahim, Anis Ibrahim Kaskar and Mustafa Dossa, the main conspirators of the 1993 bomb blasts.

Retired IPS officer Rakesh Maria, who as then-DCP had spearheaded the Mumbai police’s probe into the conspiracy behind the blasts and cracked it open before the CBI took over the probe, told The Asian Age, “The CBI should consider appealing against the acquittal of Shaikh.” The Mumbai crime branch had arrested Shaikh in February 2007. The crime branch had then denied that Shaikh had been deported from Dubai and had stated he was arrested in a special operation.