2008 serial blasts convict moves Gujarat HC for shifting to Sabarmati jail from Bhopal prison

Safdar Nagori, a death convict in the 2008 serial blasts case, has moved the Gujarat high court requesting it to issue directions to jail authorities concerned to shift him from a central jail in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh to the Sabarmati central jail.

Nagori along with nine others accused in the serial blasts case were shifted to Madhya Pradesh from Sabarmati jail in May 2017 after they were convicted in a case of terrorism in February 2017.

They were transferred to MP to serve the term under provisions of Transfer of Prisoners Act.

As soon as the orders were issued for their prison transfer, these prisoners raised objections and the issue reached the high court, which refused to interfere in the issue.

Once transferred to an MP jail, these 10 prisoners continued to request the special court, which was hearing the serial blasts case, to shift them to Sabarmati jail so that they can participate in the trial in a proper manner.

They complained that due to poor connectivity in video conferencing and their lawyers being residents of Ahmedabad, they should be shifted to Ahmedabad's jail in the interest of justice.

In 2019, the special court ordered the jail authorities to bring all 10 accused to Sabarmati jail from MP, but when this did not happen, the court ordered contempt of court proceedings against the responsible authorities from MP.

This led MP's chief secretary to approach the Gujarat HC, which quashed the contempt proceedings that the special court had ordered.