Supreme Court Dismisses Haren Pandya Murder Convict's Plea After State Refuses Remission

On October 12, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea filed by Mohammed Asgar Ali, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya, seeking premature release after the State of Gujarat informed the Court that it had rejected his remission plea.

A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh heard the matter and passed an order stating that it would not continue the matter, considering that the State has rejected his remission plea and that he has the liberty to challenge it before the High Court.

It may be recalled that the Gujarat High Court had, in July, asked the state government to decide within six months. Pandya was shot dead on March 26, 2003, in Ahmedabad near Law Garden during a morning walk.

According to the CBI, he was murdered to avenge the 2002 communal riots in the state.  

The trial court had convicted 12 persons for the murder of Pandya in June 2007. However, the High Court acquitted all of them in 2011, noting that the investigation was "botched" and "misdirected". In 2019, the Supreme Court had restored the conviction and sentence of the accused in the murder case of former state Home Minister Haren Pandya in 2003.