The Supreme Court stayed Mohammad Tanvir's execution while agreeing to hear his appeal. The order requires prison, probation and psychological reports before further consideration.
Newdelhi,Oct 19, 2026 16:30 IST
The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of the death sentence awarded to Indian Mujahideen operative Mohammad Tanvir for his role in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts, which killed 56 people, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Aparesh Kumar Singh agreed to hear Tanvir's plea challenging the Gujarat High Court's July 7 verdict, which upheld the death sentences of 38 convicts in the case.
On July 26, 2008, 21 bombs exploded across Ahmedabad within 70 minutes, killing 56 people and injuring more than 200.
"There shall be stay of execution of the death sentence awarded to the appellant (Tanvir)," the Supreme Court said in its October 9 order, according to PTI.
The court ordered that the original case records be obtained from the trial court and the Gujarat High Court. It also directed the Gujarat government to submit all probation officers' reports relating to Tanvir within eight weeks.
The superintendent of the jail concerned was asked to submit a report within eight weeks on the work performed by Tanvir in prison and his conduct and behaviour. "The superintendent of prison of the concerned prison shall also get done the psychological evaluation of the appellant from the government medical hospital," the bench said. The evaluation report must also be submitted within eight weeks.
The Supreme Court posted the matter for hearing after 12 weeks. On October 1, it had stayed the execution of the death sentence awarded to Ahmed Bawa, also known as Abbu Abubakar Barelvi, another convict in the case.
The Gujarat High Court had rejected all appeals filed by the convicts and upheld the February 2022 judgment of a special court, which sentenced 38 convicts to death and 11 to life imprisonment. It said the criminal records and roles of the 38 convicts established that they had carried out a terrorist act warranting the death penalty.
The High Court noted that the special court had considered both mitigating and aggravating circumstances before sentencing them. It cited the number of deaths, the "humongous nature of the conspiracy", the intention "to create an atmosphere of widespread terror in the society", the convicts' conduct during the trial, the scale of the conspiracy and the loss of innocent lives in the "inhuman and dastardly act" as reasons for upholding the death sentences.
The High Court also upheld the life sentences of the other 11 convicts. It said the prosecution had established their participation in terror training camps and their involvement in procuring scooters, plastic containers and clocks used in the conspiracy, besides arranging shelter for other accused.
Seventy-eight people were put on trial after 35 police cases were merged. Of these, 20 related to the Ahmedabad blasts and 15 to unexploded bombs recovered in Surat. The special court convicted 49 people. Its February 2022 order was the first instance of 38 convicts being sentenced to death in a single case by a court.
The Supreme Court has now paused Tanvir's execution while seeking prison, probation and psychological evaluation reports before taking up his appeal against the High Court verdict.
- Ends