2008 Ahmedabad blasts case: what court said while giving death sentence to the convicts

The 38 convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case deserve the death sentence as allowing them to remain in society is akin to releasing a "man-eater leopard" in public that consumes innocents, the special court has said in its order.

In the judgement, a copy of which was made available on Saturday, the court also said that in its opinion, the death sentence will be reasonable as the case falls in the "rarest of the rare" category.

The special court had on Friday sentenced to death 38 members of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) for the Ahmedabad bombings which killed 56 people and injured over 200 on July 26, 2008. The court also gave life terms to 11 other IM convicts in the case.

It was for the first time in the country that the maximum number of death sentences were handed down by a court in one go.

"The convicts created unrest in a peaceful society and carried out anti-national activities while living here. They have no respect for the constitutionally-elected government at the Centre and in Gujarat, and a few believe only in Allah and not in the government or the judiciary," special judge A R Patel said in the order.

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There is no need for the government to keep the convicts in jail, especially those who said they believed only in their God and none others, the court said, adding there is no jail in the country that can keep them lodged forever.

"If such people are allowed to remain in the society, it will be like releasing a man-eater leopard in public. Such convicts are like a man-eater leopard that eats innocents in society, including children, youth, elderly, women, men, newborns, and people of different caste and communities," the judge said in the order.