SC confirms death penalty for Pakistani LeT terrorist in 2000 Red Fort attack

Mohammad Ashfaq Arif, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant who was found guilty of attacking an army barracks at Delhi's Red Fort in December 2000, had his death sentence upheld by the Supreme Court on Thursday. The review petition submitted by Arif was denied by a bench chaired by Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit and composed of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, who noted that the conviction and punishment ruling did not call for any intervention.

An Indian trial court in Delhi executed Pakistani man Arif in 2005 after he was found guilty of planning the attack. In addition, the Delhi High Court approved the death penalty for him in 2007, and the Supreme Court later maintained this decision in 2011.
Additionally rejected in January 2014 were his review and curative motions. But after a constitutional bench's September 2014 ruling that permitted review petitions of sentenced convicts to be heard in open court rather than inside judges' chambers, the Supreme Court decided in 2016 to offer Arif yet another chance to fight for his life. Before without a public court session, Arif's review petition was denied.

A December 2000 attack in Red Fort resulted in the deaths of three persons. Four days after the event, Rehmana Yousuf Farooqui and Arif were both taken into custody. In October 2005, the trial court had found him and six other defendants guilty of murder, engaging in criminal activity, and waging war against India. While the others received prison terms of varied lengths, he received a death sentence.

However, due to a lack of evidence, the high court ordered the release of all other co-accused in September 2007, even though it had upheld his conviction.
The Red Fort, which was then being utilised as an army garrison, was reportedly invaded by two terrorists on the evening of December 22, 2000, according to the prosecution. Two troops and a guard were killed when the gunmen assaulted an army supply store and then fled. Relations between India and Pakistan were strained when the extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is based in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.