Lashkar terrorist on death row in Kolkata to plead own case in HC – Times of India

KOLKATA: A Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, now on death row for waging war against the state, was produced before Calcutta High Court amid high security on Tuesday after he wanted to argue against his death penalty himself. The HC allowed him to defend his life in court and asked the State Legal Services Authority to provide a lawyer to help him with the legal formalities.
Sheikh Abdul Nayeem (42), who hails from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, is lodged in Tihar jail, and brought to Calcutta HC by Delhi Police after a division bench agreed to hear the case on a holiday. However, there were some discrepancies in his application, so the HC will hear him on May 17. Till then, Nayeem will be lodged in Presidency jail.
In 2007, Nayeem, along with two Pakistani and a Kashmiri LeT militant, was apprehended by the BSF while trying to illegally enter India from Bangladesh through the Benapole-Petrapole check post. From their possession, fake Indian voter ID cards, licences, passports and visas, Indian currency and US dollars were seized. In December 2018, a Bongaon court had awarded death sentence to Nayeem. The other three were also given capital punishment.
Nayeem was linked to the Aurangabad arms haul and 2006 Mumbai train blast case. Nayeem and the three others were charged under several sections of the IPC, including 121 (waging war against the state), 468 (forgery), 470 (forging documents) and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act. In 2014, he had escaped from judicial custody in Chhattisgarh while being taken by train to Mumbai to be produced in the MCOCA court. He was arrested again from Lucknow in 2017.
Around 10am on Tuesday, Nayeem was brought to the Calcutta High Court by Delhi Police. He was clad in a formal pink check shirt, a pair of brown trousers and formal shoes, with a leather bag slung across his left shoulder. He was carrying a blue trolley bag.
The division bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Bivas Pattanayak heard his appeal on a holiday as he expressed his “desire to present a petition of appeal against his conviction and sentence of death” and wanted to argue the appeal in person. He prayed that copies of material exhibits be supplied to him in order to enable him to prepare his arguments.
The high court ordered that he would be lodged in Presidency jail under high security during the hearing of the appeal and “shall be produced before this court in person with appropriate police escort and security measures to advance his arguments in person.” The HC requested senior criminal lawyer Sekhar Basu to be the Amicus Curiae in this case. The court ordered the correctional home authorities to ensure his attendance in other cases through video linkage.
While being escorted out of the court at 1.10pm, Nayeem told a group of reporters that he was looking forward to presenting his appeal by himself and claimed he was “innocent” and being “framed” as he was being put into the prison van.