Convict Habib Ahmed Khan released by Supreme Court, serves life sentence on 1993 train blasts.

Habib Ahmed Khan has filed a petition in the top court, seeking permanent parole due to his declining health and advancing age. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan has requested the Rajasthan government to consider his case from a human rights perspective.

Khan’s counsel mentioned that he has already spent over 27 years in jail and had been granted parole thrice. The bench, after reviewing Khan’s medical reports, questioned the purpose of his continued incarceration at this stage.

While acknowledging his conviction for a terror offense, the bench emphasized that he was not given a capital punishment and expressed concerns over the potential for his continued imprisonment to equate to capital punishment. The Additional Solicitor General (ASG) representing the Rajasthan government mentioned that in order to be considered for remission, the convict is required to apply to the state government.

However, Khan’s conviction for a terror offense may pose an obstacle. In response, Justice Oka referenced Article 21 of the Constitution and highlighted Khan’s physical limitations based on his medical reports.

Justice Bhuyan remarked on Khan’s advanced age and urged against insensitivity in the application of the law. The bench acknowledged the limitations on its powers and instructed the ASG to ascertain whether Khan could be granted remission or permanent parole.

The matter was scheduled for a hearing in two weeks. Khan was arrested in 1994 in connection with train blasts in 1993 and was convicted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) in 2004.

His conviction and life sentence were upheld by the Supreme Court in 2016. In 2021, he was granted parole by the top court due to his deteriorating health.

The Rajasthan High Court had previously granted him parole twice, in 2018 and 2020, given his age and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic respectively. Please note that the text has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.