CNN Central News & Networks / ITDC India ePress / ITDC News /Agencies/ Bhopal: No relief in 2006 arms recovery case, High Court rejects bail plea
Mumbai. Mohammad Amer Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh, who is serving a life sentence in the 2006 Aurangabad arms and explosives recovery case, has not received relief from the Bombay High Court. The court rejected his plea seeking suspension of his sentence and bail until the decision on his appeal. The bench said his alleged role in the case was more serious than that of co-accused who have already been granted bail while their appeals remain pending.
A bench of Justice Manish Pitale and Justice Shriram V. Shirsat said that, prima facie, reasonable grounds existed on which the charges against the petitioner could be considered. The court also directed that his appeal and related appeals be listed for final hearing on December 7, 2026.
Life sentence was awarded in 2016. Mohammad Amer Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh was convicted by a special court in July 2016 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act and was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he was acquitted of charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The Maharashtra government has challenged that decision.
Arms and explosives were recovered in 2006. The case dates to May 9, 2006, when the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) intercepted a Tata Sumo near the Grishneshwar Temple in the then Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. According to the investigating agency, 10 AK-47 rifles, 40 magazines, 200 cartridges and 30 kilograms of explosive powder were recovered from the vehicle. The agency had alleged that the consignment of weapons was part of a larger conspiracy.
The argument of prolonged custody also did not help. The petitioner had argued before the court that he had been in custody for a long time and that the prosecution’s case was primarily based on confessional statements which, he said, he later retracted. However, the High Court did not consider these arguments sufficient to grant relief. The bench said the delay in retracting the confessional statements and other available evidence also needed to be taken into account. The court also made it clear that prolonged custody by itself is not a sufficient ground to suspend a life sentence. Considering the seriousness of the case and the available evidence, the bail plea was rejected. The final hearing in the case is now proposed for December 7.
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