Aftab Ansari

Calcutta High Court is jittery about playing host to Aftab Ansari, the mastermind of the American Center attack in January 2002.

The court has asked for special security measures, including restricted access to the premises, after learning of Ansari’s plan to represent himself when his appeal against the death sentence comes up for hearing.

His six convicted associates, all of whom were awarded the death sentence in April 2005, have also appealed against the verdict.

“The judges were reluctant to hear the appeals if security wasn’t beefed up. After all, Aftab is an international criminal. He had been heard during the trial threatening that no one responsible for his arrest would be spared,” a court official said.

Basudeb Majumdar, the judge who had awarded the death sentence to Ansari and his associates, was allegedly threatened several times after he pronounced the verdict.

He died of a heart attack on June 6, 2005, less than two months after the trial ended.

Sources said at least two judges had since declined to take up the appeals filed by Ansari and the other six convicts.

But the official reason for the delay in hearing the appeals — filed in May 2005 — is an “incomplete paper book”.

“The department concerned compiled the paper book (containing all documents and affidavits pertaining to the case) after receiving an order from the chief justice,” a senior official said.

Based on Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar’s request, the state government has instructed the police to put into place special security measures for the Ansari hearing within a month.

The proposed measures include restricting entry into the court premises, installation of more closed-circuit television cameras and deployment of additional forces.

“The court administration has informed us that it will soon issue separate entry cards for advocates, court employees and litigants. A few more CCTVs will also be installed in the corridors,” said Ashis Roy, the secretary of the bar association.

No court of law can prevent a litigant from representing himself/herself in a case.

In 1986, the high court had allowed Chandranath Banik, charged with the murder of Gariahat homemaker Debjani Banik, to be his own counsel in his appeal against the death sentence.

In Ansari’s case, the court is being extra careful because of several reasons. In 2005, the police had got wind of a plan to help him escape while being taken to the city sessions court.

He was then being simultaneously tried for plotting the abduction of Khadim’s owner Partha Roy Burman.

The court later decided to shift the venue of his trial in that case to Presidency jail, where he is still lodged.

Sadaquat, who allegedly fired at policemen in front of the American Center on January 22, 2002, killing six, was caught recently.

The Ansari aide was arrested by Mumbai police in connection with the serial blasts on local trains in that city.