New Delhi: The Bombay high court on Friday (September 20) granted bail to a 42-year-old tailor accused in the 2012 Pune serial blasts case.

While granting the accused bail, a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Sharmila Deshmukh observed that the appellant Munib Memon has been in custody for around 11 and a half years since his arrest in December 2012, reported LiveLaw.

"Today, the appellant is in custody for more than 11 and 1⁄2 years with no prospect of the trial concluding within a reasonable period. Although the incident took place in December 2012, charge was framed in the said case only in 2022 and it is only in February 2024 that the first witness stepped into the witness-box," the judges noted.

The court noted in its judgment that while the prosecution has mentioned 300 witnesses in the chargesheet, it intends to examine only 107 witnesses.

"Till date only about 8 witnesses have been examined and as such the possibility of the trial concluding in the immediate near future appears to be bleak. The right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, is a fundamental right," the judges underscored.

The prosecution had said that the case relates to bomb blasts that were planned to avenge the death of one Quatil Siddique, a member Indian Mujahideen, who was arrested for conspiring to blast bombs at the famous Dagadu Sheth Ganpati Mandir in Pune.

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