The Gujarat High Court has rejected the interim bail plea of 2002 Sabarmati Express train killer convict Faruk Bhana, on the grounds that his ailing father, 95, needs medical treatment. In view of the prosecution’s objection, the Gujarat HC on Thursday said that “other members of the family” can seek treatment.
By listening to both sides of the argument and considering the doctor’s reports filed by Bhana’s lawyer, who emphasized that the suspect’s father was diagnosed with diastolic dysfunction and is being treated for serious kidney disease, one judge of Justice Sanjeev Thaker rejected it. request.
In an order uploaded on Friday, the HC said, “The Additional Learned Public Prosecutor (APP) contended that the petitioner was recently released on May 1, 2024 for eight days… for an offense under Section 302 of the IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment. After considering the fact ( imposed by the APP) that there are other family members who can look after the applicant’s father and since the applicant has just received temporary bail, there is no charge opened and hence the present application is accordingly rejected.”
In May, a High Court bench granted Bhana eight-day bail to attend his grandson’s wedding.
Bhana, a former municipal councilor in Godhra Municipality, was sentenced to life imprisonment for being the “conspirator” of the 2002 Sabarmati massacre as described by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the case. Bhana, who had been on the run for 14 years and was said to be living on a false identity in Mumbai, was arrested in 2016 while visiting his family in Godhra.
A special court sentenced Bhana to life imprisonment in August 2018.