7/11 Mumbai train blasts: Bombay High Court rejects plea by death row convict Ehtesham Siddiqui to appear for LLB exam

The Bombay High Court Wednesday rejected a plea filed by a death row convict in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case, seeking the Court's permission to give his second year of LLB examination scheduled to be held from tomorrow..A division bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and RN Laddha said that since exams are scheduled to be held from tomorrow, it might not be possible for the prison authorities to arrange for an escort and bring him from Nagpur to Mumbai on such a short notice. The petitioner, Ehtesham Siddiqui was one the 5 convicted for the seven serial blasts that rocked the Mumbai suburban network on July 11, 2006. The blasts had claimed 189 lives and injured 800 persons. .The Court was informed on Wednesday that Siddiqui has to take permission from the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police before approaching the High Court. Special Public Prosecutor Avdhoot Chimalker showed the Court a notification of February 10, 2022, issued by the State Home Department which directed that prisoners first approach the DIG with their request. "He should have approached the jail authorities with the request so that arrangements for the same could have been done (by now),” Chimalkar informed the Court..The Court agreed with the contention and also stated that even if they do grant him permission, it will take sometime for the prison authorities to arrange for an escort and bring him from Nagpur to Mumbai on such a short notice of one day.The bench directed Siddiqui to follow the requisite procedure of first approaching the DIG and asked him to take his chance for the next round of exams. .Siddiqui along with 4 others were given death sentence in 2015 by the Special Court under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA). The confirmation of the same is pending before the High Court.As an undertrial, Siddiqui commenced his LLB degree course from the Siddharth Law College in Mumbai. He completed first year out of the 3 year LLB course in 2015. Sometime after his conviction, he was transferred to the Nagpur Central Prison.He again decided to pursue his incomplete course and found out that the third semester examinations (first semester of second year) were scheduled from February 2 to 8, 2023. The college also informed him that they would issue his examination hall ticket once the court orders them to do so. He then approached the High Court by way of the present petition.