HC upholds quashing of trial against two accused

The Gujarat High Court today upheld a special court's order to quash trial against two persons accused in a case of "ISI conspiracy", which was allegedly hatched to avenge 2002 post Godhra riots, citing grounds of "double jeopardy".
The high court observed that the duo cannot be tried in this case again as it is related to the Haren Pandya murder case, in which the trial has already got over.
The duo-- Ashgar Ali and Mohammad Rauf-- were among nine people convicted by a special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court in the 2003 murder of former state Home Minister Haren Pandya, but later acquitted by the high court.

A division bench of Justice K S Jhaveri and Justice G B Shah today held as valid the reasoning given by the POTA court while upholding its order against them in 2007 in the "ISI conspiracy" case. The state government had challenged the lower court order in the high court.
The high court observed that since the duo had already been convicted in Haren Pandya murder case (though they were later acquitted), they cannot be tried in another case that is also related to the murder case, as it would amount to "double jeopardy" and will be in violation of Section 300 of the CrPC.

Section 300 of CrPC says a person, once tried by a court and convicted or acquitted, cannot be again tried for the same offence.

The duo was among nine of 12 accused, who were convicted by a POTA court in a case pertaining to the murder of Pandya in 2004, which was investigated by the CBI.
The matter was challenged in the high court, which acquitted all the convicts. The judgement was challenged by CBI in Supreme Court, where the matter is pending.
In 2007, Ahmedabad crime branch had filed a case in which the duo was among around 100 accused, named for hatching a larger conspiracy to avenge the 2002 Gujarat riots, and the murder of Pandya was allegedly a part of the same conspiracy.

Pandya, home minister in the BJP government then headed by Narendra Modi, was shot dead in 2003 in Ahmedabad.
The CBI, which investigated the case, held that Pandya was murdered to avenge the 2002 communal riots.