The Supreme Court will hear a petition today challenging the Rajasthan High Court’s acquittal of four accused in the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts case. In March this year, the Rajasthan HC acquitted the four individuals, prompting the victims’ families to appeal to the apex court. The Rajasthan government has also filed an appeal against the high court verdict. A bench of Justices AS Oka and Rajesh Bindal has allowed the victims to file the petition and will consider it next week along with the state’s special leave petition.
On May 13, 2008, a series of blasts occurred in Jaipur, targeting various locations and resulting in the death of 71 people and injuring 185. In December 2019, four individuals were sentenced to death by a lower court, while a fifth accused was acquitted. However, on March 29, 2023, the Rajasthan HC overturned the lower court’s verdict, criticizing the investigation agencies for their inadequate probe. The court upheld the acquittal of the fifth accused.
In a separate incident, three low-intensity blasts took place near the Golden Temple in Amritsar recently. The Punjab Police have arrested five individuals in connection with the incident. Out of the arrested, Azadvir Singh and Amreek Singh are considered the main perpetrators, while Sahib Singh, Harjeet Singh, and Dharmendra Singh were involved in supplying explosives. The police recovered 1.1 kg of low-intensity explosives from them. A special investigation team (SIT) will be formed by the Commissioner of Police to investigate the matter further.
