A crater created by one of the 1993 Bombay serial blasts in Worli’s Century Bazar

Mumbai, Oct. 9: Nine months are standing in the way of Moin Qureshi and the day of judgment.

Moin was 17 years and three months old when police arrested him on April 13, 1993, on the charge of lobbing hand grenades at the Mahim Fishermen Colony. The strike, part of the Bombay serial blasts, killed three persons.

The Juvenile Justice Act of 1986, which was in place at the time of the 1993 blasts, was amended in 2000, raising the age of a juvenile accused to 18 from 16. It meant that an accused below the age of 18, whether a boy or a girl, would be considered a juvenile under the law, tried by the juvenile court and not be awarded death penalty.

The amendment did not have retrospective effect then. However, a new notification in 2006 said the amendment in respect of age will have retrospective effect.

“The new notification means that even the accused arrested before 2000 would get benefit of the enhanced age limit in case of pending trials even not before the juvenile court. Otherwise, the purpose of the act to protect children stands defeated,” said Moin’s lawyer .S. Siddiqui.

The prosecution, however, has a different point of view.

“When the chargesheet against Moin was filed, the Juvenile Justice Act 1986 was in force and the age of a juvenile boy was held as ‘under 16’ by that. Hence, no mistake had taken place in applying Tada. There cannot be any retrospective effect as far as the 2000 amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act is concerned,” said public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

Nikam said Section 25 of Tada makes it overriding on all other criminal acts. Accused tried under the terrorist act before the designated court need not be tried in other courts, he said.

The special court of Judge P.D. Kode continued to hear arguments today to redefine the status and application of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, vis-a-vis Tada and other criminal acts.

When the 2000 act came into being, the 1986 law was obliterated. But when the accused was arrested, the 1986 rule was in force. The question to be decided is whether the amendments have prospective or retrospective effect.

Kode said the prosecution should convince the court on how Section 25 of the Tada Act overrides all other provisions of criminal justice acts. The arguments in the case are likely to continue tomorrow and Moin’s fate will be decided after the court arrives at a decision.

The court today pronounced another accused, Mohammed Farooq Pawale, guilty of planting bombs and helping smuggle the arms and ammunition into India and plotting the attacks. Accused number 16 Pawale had planted a car bomb at the Air-India building basement which killed 20 people on March 12, 1993, the prosecution had said.