'No discrimination in blast hearing'

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled out any discrimination in hearing the bail pleas in the Mumbai serial blasts case. It agreed to grant an urgent hearing to one such convict on Friday.

A bench headed by Justice BN Aggrawal will hear the bail application of Aziz Ahmad Mohammad Shaikh, who has been sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment under Tada. Ahmad’s counsel pressed for an early hearing in the matter, arguing that Sanjay Dutt cannot be given any special treatment in the hearing of the bail applications by various accused in the same case.

The apex court on Wednesday had agreed to give an urgent hearing to Dutt’s plea brought up by his counsel Fali S Nariman. Ahmad’s counsel said Ahmad was the first to file a bail application in the apex court after special judge PD Kode started sentencing the convicts in the Mumbai serial blasts case.

Meanwhile, the apex court clarified that it would not take Dutt’s case on Friday. A bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan made it clear that the apex court had only listed the matter to be "mentioned" on Friday and only after that a date would be formally fixed for hearing the actor’s bail application.

The clarification came after senior counsel Fali S Nariman, appearing for Dutt, complained that the matter was not being listed for hearing on Friday despite a direction from the court. However, immediately, the chief justice clarified that the apex court had only issued directions that the matter be listed for a formal “mentioning” on Friday.