2013 Patna blasts: HC commutes death sentences of 4 to 30 years in jail

The Patna High Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentences of four persons convicted for the 2013 serial blasts in Patna that targeted the inaugural rally of Narendra Modi, who was then the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, in Bihar. A division bench comprising Justices Ashutosh Kumar and Jitendra Kumar disposed of the Death Reference moved by state government on the order of a special NIA court, and ruled that the four convicts shall serve "30 years in prison". In October 2021, the trial court convicted nine persons in total, sentencing two to life imprisonment, two others to 10 years in jail each, and one to seven years in prison, while acquitting one of the accused. In a 63-page order, the High Court said for Imtiyaz Alam, Haider Ali, Numan Ansari, and Mujibullah Ansari, a 30-year prison sentence "would suffice and would meet the ends of justice." Incidentally, Alam, Ali and Mujibullah Ansari are also serving life sentence in Bodh Gaya serial blasts of July, 2013. The court