The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of Mohammad Tanvir, a death-row convict linked to the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts, pending its review of his challenge to a Gujarat High Court ruling. The stay means Tanvir’s death sentence cannot be carried out while the court considers the appeal.
The three-judge bench directs the filing of additional material before the next hearing. It orders the lower courts’ original records to be obtained and asks the Gujarat government to submit probation-officer reports within eight weeks. The jail superintendent is also instructed to provide reports on Tanvir’s conduct during imprisonment and a psychological evaluation from a government medical hospital, both within the same timeframe.
Context on the case comes from the July 7 Gujarat High Court decision, which upheld the death penalties of 38 Indian Mujahideen operatives. Sources note the high court’s view that individual roles and the overall scale of the conspiracy warranted capital punishment, alongside its assessment of mitigating and aggravating factors. The 2008 attacks involved multiple explosions across Ahmedabad, killing 56 and injuring more than 200. Outlet reports also reference that another death-row convict, Ahmed Bawa, previously had his execution stayed by the Supreme Court in early October.
