Lawyer Sharif Shaikh, representing Ansari, said that he was 20 at the time of the offence in 2014 and he has already spent eight years behind bars. (Representative)A Mumbai sessions court on Friday convicted a 28-year-old man and sentenced him to life imprisonment on charges, including cyber terrorism, for a conspiracy to attack an American school in the city. Anees Ansari was arrested in October 2014 and has been behind bars since.
Ansari was convicted under various sections, including 66 (F) of the Information Technology Act, which has provisions for punishment for cyber terrorism. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment under this section.
Additional Sessions Judge Dr A A Joglekar also convicted Ansari under Section 115 (abetment of offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life) read with Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. He has been sentenced to five years in jail under this section. He has also been directed to pay a fine of Rs 25,000 under Section 43(a) of the IT Act (compensation for failure to protect data).
Special public prosecutor (SPP) Madhukar Dalvi for the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said that 28 witnesses were examined in the case, including a cyber expert who had extracted electronic evidence against Ansari. It was claimed that he had chats where there was a discussion about using a thermite bomb.
SPP Dalvi had sought the maximum punishment of life imprisonment for Ansari stating that the offences were serious and the accused is highly qualified. If released, there is a possibility that he might put into action what he set out to do in 2014.
Lawyer Sharif Shaikh, representing Ansari, said that he was 20 at the time of the offence in 2014 and he has already spent eight years behind bars. The offence was not committed, nor does he have any prior criminal antecedents, it was submitted.
The detailed order is yet to be made available.