More '93 blasts verdicts lined up

The designated TADA court on Wednesday made it clear that it would start pronouncing verdict beginning Thursday on the 31 accused charged with transporting and planting RDX bombs in different parts of the city. This includes Mohammed Shoaib Ghansar, accused of planting a bomb in Jhaveri Bazaar.

The court order came after special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam urged the court to pronounce judgement on these accused before hearing arguments on the quantum of punishment for the four convicted members of the Memon family. Accepting his plea, special TADA Judge PD Kode directed that all these 31 accused be produced in court Thursday morning. He said arguments regarding Memom family members would be heard on Thursday.

Earlier, the court had postponed till tomorrow arguments on quantum of punishment for convicted Memon family members after their lawyer Harshad Ponda sought time for consultations with them. Meanwhile, Essa and Yusuf, both brothers of the main accused, Tiger Memon who along with their other brother Yakub and sister-in-law Rubina were convicted in the case yesterday, applied for bail on medical grounds on Wednesday.

Essa pleaded in the court that he had put on a lot of weight and doctors had advised him to do physical exercise to reduce weight. He said he had also been advised to undergo treatment for a brain tumour. On the other hand, Yusuf claimed that he was undergoing treatment for a psychological problem.