Twenty years after they were arrested for attending a convention allegedly held by the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in Sagrampura in Surat, all 124 accused were acquitted Saturday by a trial court in Gujarat.
The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate A N Dave acquitted 124 persons arrested for being members of SIMI, citing no evidence.
Five other accused had died during the pendency of trial. The detainees include some prominent Muslim leaders, who were not members of SIMI.
In its order, the court said that the prosecution failed to produce ‘cogent, reliable and satisfactory’ evidence to establish that the accused persons belonged to the SIMI and had gathered to promote the activities of the banned outfit.
The court said the accused persons cannot be held guilty under the UAPA.
The case dates back to December 27-30, 2001, when a meeting was held at Rajashree Hall in Surat to discuss the educational rights of Muslims. The meeting was organised under the banner of the All India Minority Education Board.
The meeting was attended by many people from all over India. The conference hall was booked by Alif Majeed Mansuri and AR Qureshi, a resident of Salabatpura in Surat. The organizers were Asif Anwar Sheikh alias Asif Iqbal of Mriguan Tekra in Begumpura and Hanif Multani of Kosamba.
On the day of the convention, the police raided the meeting and arrested everyone who was present and charged them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, alleging that they were part of SIMI.
The BJP-led central government has banned SIMI on September 27, 2001.
The accused belonged to different parts of Gujarat as well as from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
