A 94-year-old Dr Habib Ahmed Khan was granted interim relief by the Supreme Court of India on Friday as his parole was extended till July.
Dr Habib returned home to his family, after 27 years. He will now be able to celebrate Ramadan for the first time at home in the last 27 years.
“He has lost his ability to walk, his eyesight has deteriorated and he is suffering from other ailments which his family is treating,” Gulzar Azmi, head of Jamaat-e-Ulema Legal Aid Committee noted, adding that “Dr Habib has been released three times in the past. He was released on parole for 21 days but in view of his condition, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court to release him on permanent parole as, in fact, Dr Habib’s condition is no longer fit to stay in jail.”
The relief comes following efforts by Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, President of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, the organisation said in a press release. “Maulana Rabi Hasni Nadvi, President, Muslim Personal Law Board, had also requested Maulana Arshad Madani to seek release of Dr Habib on permanent parole.”
The extension in parole means he will not have to go to Jaipur Jail or will have to surrender in Jaipur Jail till Tuesday when his parole was supposed to end.
Dr Habib was arrested in 1994 in connection with a series of train blasts in 1993. He was convicted in 2004.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave and Advocate Mujahid Ahmed told the court that the petitioner was undergoing treatment at home and his condition was critical. “It is not the case that he should go to Jaipur Jail and surrender. Therefore, the court should grant him relief on humanitarian grounds and extend his parole,” Senior Advocate Siddharth Dev told the court.
Although the court did not release Dr Habib on permanent parole, it once again granted him temporary relief and allowed him to stay at home, till July.
