Zaheera urges SC to reduce sentence

The prime witness in the Best Bakery case, Zaheera Sheikh, today moved the Supreme Court, seeking a lighter sentence. The court had sentenced her to one-year imprisonment and asked her to pay Rs 50,000 fine for changing her statements several times.

According to her, she was a minor when she made the statements and her health had deteriorated due to stress during the past few years.

The Supreme Court had transferred her case as well as other Gujarat riots cases from Gujarat to Maharashtra. During the trial, she changed her statements several times, after which the court asked its registrar general to find the truth.

After the registrar general reported that she was a "self-condemned liar", the Bench, comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice HK Sema, sentenced her to one year in jail, observing that "this is a classic example of a case where evidence were tampered with and witnesses won over".

The court had also directed the income tax authorities to attach Zaheera's assets for three months besides ascertaining her source of income since 2000.

The application is likely to be mentioned before the Bench tomorrow.

Meanwhile, a sessions court in Mumbai today allowed Zaheera to reply on March 29 to notices issued to her and others for false statements during the retrial and extended her custody for nine days in another matter in which the Supreme Court had sentenced her to one year in jail for contempt of court.

Zaheera was produced before Sessions Judge Abhay Thipsay. Her brother Nasibullah also appeared in response to notices issued for making false averments during the retrial in the Mumbai court.

Both sought time for replying to notices for perjury, pleading that they did not have a copy of the Best Bakery judgment, pronounced on February 24, when the judge had pulled them up for making false averments.

The judge told Zaheera and her brother that they would be furnished a copy of the judgment on March 27.

Zaheera's mother Sahrinussa and sister Sahira, who were also issued notices, did not appear but moved an application through Nasibullah, urging exemption from appearance.

The court exempted the duo from appearance today but asked them to appear on March 29.

The court was told that Nafitullah, another brother of Zaheera, who was also issued notice for perjury, had passed away. The death certificate submitted by the prosecution was taken on record.