The West Bengal government on Thursday filed a complaint in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s order to release Rashid Khan, a life convict in the 1993 Boobazar blast case that claimed 69 lives in Kolkata, and urged urgent intervention to prevent his release.
Bringing up the matter before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, the state’s counsel sought expedited listing of his appeal against the June 5 judgment of the Delhi High Court, claiming that the case involved a serious terror offense and that the apex court erred in releasing Khan prematurely despite repeated rejection of his clemency plea by the State Sentence Review Board (SSRB).
The state’s attorney said: “The crime is very serious,” calling for an early hearing and temporary protection.
During the short hearing, the chief justice asked the state how long Khan had been in prison. The lawyer responded that Khan had undergone nearly 30 years of imprisonment, including a pardon he received while in detention.
After hearing the submission, CJI Kant agreed to consider listing the matter.
This development comes weeks after the Delhi High Court ordered the release of the 72-year-old convict, considering that the seriousness of the original crime cannot in itself justify continued imprisonment when all indications point to reform.
In a ruling on June 5, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna granted Khan clemency and ordered his immediate release, stating that the punishment he had already undergone had adequately served the goals of deterrence.
The Supreme Court observed that “the punishment to which the petitioner was subjected adequately fulfilled the deterrence required for abetting the convict who committed such a serious crime.”
Khan was convicted in 2001 under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Explosive Substances Act and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) for his role in the 1993 blast in Kolkata’s busy Boobazar area.
The explosion, one of the city’s deadliest terrorist incidents before the era of serial bombings, killed 69 people and injured several others. Later, the Supreme Court upheld Khan’s conviction.
Since his arrest in 1993, Khan has remained behind bars.
The petition before the Delhi High Court challenged the West Bengal Sentencing Review Board’s decisions in 2017 and 2018 to deny early release despite an earlier recommendation in favor of clemency.
The Supreme Court noted that the SSRB recommended Khan’s release in 2015 after assessing his conduct and other relevant factors. According to the court, the subsequent denial of amnesty was not supported by any new material and relied largely on the same facts that had been previously considered.
The Supreme Court also rejected the state’s claim that Khan remained a threat to society, citing his behavior while on parole, positive reports from correctional authorities and the absence of complaints regarding his behavior.
Because constitutional jurisprudence places great emphasis on reform and rehabilitation, the Court noted that continued imprisonment cannot be justified solely because of the seriousness of the crime committed decades ago.
However, the West Bengal government maintained that the nature of the crime and its impact on public safety justified denial of pardon, and has now sought the intervention of the Supreme Court against the release order.
