The bench of Justices Vikram Nath, AG Masih and Sandeep Mehta issued a notice to the Gujarat government after Ahmed Bawa’s appeal against the High Court’s death‑penalty verdict—an appeal that had upheld the sentence for 38 Indian Mujahideen members.
The 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts, which rattled the city in a 70‑minute spree, killed 56 people and injured over 200, including casualties at hospitals where wounded were being taken.
The High Court, in a July 7 ruling, affirmed the death sentences by citing the sheer scale of the conspiracy, the intent to spread terror, and the lack of remorse among the convicts; it also upheld life imprisonment for 11 others involved in training camps.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing in the case, stressed the seriousness of the offence, while the Supreme Court’s stay calls for a thorough examination of trial‑court records—a move that could recalibrate the legal stance on capital punishment in terrorism cases.
The court’s order also compels the Gujarat government to pay ₹10 lakh to each family of a victim and ₹5 lakh to grievously injured survivors by March 30, 2027. A mother from Ahmedabad, whose son died in the blasts, said the stay gives her and others a sliver of hope for justice. The next step: the Supreme Court will review the case files before deciding whether to reinstate the death penalty or commute it.