Cbi opposes dawood aide farooq takla’s plea for legal counsel

The CBI counsel on Monday opposed the applications filed by the advocate of Farooq Takla, who is an aide of mafia don Dawood Ibrahim and also one of the accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts. As

reported by Hindustan Times, the applications sought legal counsel and to not make a confessional statement. Takla has been remanded to police custody till 19 March by a special TADA court

after being brought to Mumbai early 8 March. Dawood’s aide Farooq Takla was brought to Mumbai in the early hours of 8 March to face the special TADA Court for his involvement in the 1993

Mumbai serial bomb blasts case. Takla was brought to Mumbai after being deported from Dubai. Farooq Takla was produced before the special court constituted under the Terrorist and Disruptive

Activities (Prevention) Act, in Mumbai, the CBI confirmed to THE QUINT. > Farooq Takla gave logistical support to the people accused in the > 1993 blast, both in Dubai, and when they 

were taken to Pakistan from > India for arms training. Abhishek Dayal, CBI Spokesman, to The Quint Takla is likely to be tried for conspiracy, murder, and terrorism charges in the 1993

Mumbai serial blasts case. _India Today_ reported that National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval was believed to have played an important role in ensuring Takla's return to India. WHO

IS FAROOQ TAKLA? Takla was an accused in the blasts trial, along with gangster Dawood Ibrahim and a number of his other associates. Farooq Takla had reportedly fled from India after the 1993

Mumbai serial bomb blasts. > Farooq Takla is believed to be the man controlling and managing the > D-Company’s Dubai and Middle East operations, CNN-News 18 added. Interpol had issued

a Red Corner Notice against Takla in 1995, for his involvement in the 1993 bomb blasts. Takla had fled the country in 1995, along with Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, Chota Shakeel, and other

important members of the underworld organisation dubbed the ‘D-Company’, _CNN News-18 _added. Takla was brought back to India at 4.45 am on 8 March, Thursday, _CNN News-18 _reported. FAROOQ

TAKLA’S RETURN A BIG BLOW TO D-COMPANY: UJJWAL NIKAM Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said in a statement to ANI, that Farooq Takla being brought back to India, was a “huge success,” adding

that Takla was involved in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, and that Takla has links which could be traced back to Dubai. Nikam’s statements come on the tail of CNN News-18’s report that Takla

was the one managing Dawood Ibrahim’s operations in Dubai and the Middle East. NO QUESTION OF BAIL FOR FAROOQ TAKLA: MAJEED MEMON Adding to Nikam’s statement, NCP leader and senior criminal

lawyer Majeed Memon speculated that Farooq Takla’s return to India, “ shows he has expressed his willingness to come back for trial.” Memon added that there was no question of Takla being

granted bail while being questioned CBI or while awaiting trial by the special TADA Court. CAN FAROOQ TAKLA GET BAIL? Section (8) of the original Terrorist and Disruptive Activities

(Prevention) Act prohibits the grant of bail to anyone accused of an offence under the act, save for two exceptions: That the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the

application for release on bail. Where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, but the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such

offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. OTHERS NAMED IN THE 1993 MUMBAI BOMB BLASTS As many as 27 others accused in the Mumbai blasts, including Ibrahim

Kaskar and Tiger Memon, who are alleged to have been the brains behind the blasts, are still absconding from the grips of the Indian judiciary. The special TADA court had convicted two of

the accused, Mohammed Taher Merchant, and Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan, in September 2017, giving them the death sentence. > Abu Salem and Karimullah Khan were handed to life sentences, after

> being convicted in the case, while Riyaz Siddiqui was given a > 10-year jail sentence. The men were tried and found guilty on charges including murder, waging war against the

country, supplying arms and ammunition, and hatching a criminal conspiracy. While all six accused had been found guilty by the special TADA court in June 2017, one of the convicts, Mustafa

Dossa, died of a heart attack on 28 June 2017. CBI OPPOSES TAKLA’S APPLICATION The CBI on Monday, 12 March opposed the applications put forth by Takla’s advocate Farhana Shah, which

requested for a legal counsel being provided to him and to not make a confessional statement. According to Hindustan Times, the prosecution on behalf of the CBI, stated that the accused

could not claim the right to maintain absolute silence and prevent criminal investigation of the crime. It filed its reply before the special TADA court. CBI counsel Deepak Salvi also said

that having a legal counsel meet the accused, Takla, while he was still in CBI custody, would ‘disrupt the investigations’, the report adds. However, Shah responded to this by saying: > 

It is the right of the accused to meet an advocate of his choice > during interrogation, although not throughout the interrogation. Farhana Shah, Takla’s advocate, as reported by

_Hindustan Times _ She also cited the example of Taher Merchant, another accused in the 1993 case, saying that the CBI had then approved his application to meet with his legal counsel twice,

for 15 minutes, while he was still in custody. Additionally, the report states, Shah had also referred to the provision of allowing home-cooked food for Takla while he was still in custody,

in her application. The court is expected to make a decision on the applications filed by Shah for Takla, on Tuesday. Published: 08 Mar 2018, 9:25 AM IST