The Supreme Court today stayed the Delhi High Court order directing the premature release of a life-term convict in the 1993 Kolkata Bowbazar blast case. A bench comprising Justices PK Mishra and Sanjeev Sachdeva gave the interim relief on a plea filed by the West Bengal government, challenging the 5th June order of the high court directing the immediate release of the 77-year-old convict Md. Rashid Khan.

 

The top court also issued notice to Khan, who was convicted under stringent provisions of TADA, on the plea of the state government.

 

Appearing for the state government, additional solicitor general SV Raju said the high court made a mistake in its finding and questioned relying on reformative theory for granting relief to Khan in a case where more than 70 people died and hundreds got injured in the bomb blasts.

 

Senior advocate MR Shamshad, appearing for Khan, submitted that he had spent over 33 years in prison and highlighted that a co-accused, Pannalal Jaiswara, was granted remission in March 2014.

 

The bench, however, said the roles attributed to them were completely different while pointing out that Khan was the “mastermind” of the incident.

 

The reformative theory of punishment, also known as the rehabilitative approach, views crime as a social or psychological pathology rather than a simple moral failing.