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The high court rejected Siddiqui's plea while stating that due process had not been followed by him as he approached the high court directly.
A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice NW Sambre and RN Ladha on Tuesday rejected the plea of Ehtesham Siddiqui, a Mumbai train blast convict, who sought relief from the High Court to write his law exams for the third semester.
Siddiqui was awarded capital punishment by the trial court in 2015. His death confirmation plea and appeal against the conviction is pending before the High Court.
While Siddique was an undertrial prisoner he was pursuing law and had completed his first two semesters of law college in 2015 before his conviction.
He, thereafter, filed a plea before the High Court stating that his exams are scheduled in February 2023 and the college has told him that if the high court allows then a hall ticket will be issued to him.
Advocate Mujahid Ansari apprised the court that in 2015 the accused was taken to the exam centre under police escort from Nagpur to Mumbai at the expense of the State.
Special Public Prosecutor Avidhut Chivalkar, however, argued that as per rules and notification, the convict should have approached the DIG Prisons first and not the high court.
The Division Bench observed that at such short notice, it would be difficult to arrange an escort from Nagpur to Mumbai and also the due process was not followed by the convict by approaching the courts directly. The high court, however, allowed Siddique to take his chance in the next exam.
Case title: Ehtesham Siddiqui vs State of Maharashtra & Ors
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