The Delhi High court, India, acquitted two people originally...

The Delhi High court, India, acquitted two people originally sentenced to death in the December 13, 2001, terrorist attack on Parliament, lecturer Sayed Abdul Rahman Geelani and Afsan Guru, a woman. The death sentences against two other Jaish-e-Mohammed members convicted in the same case, Mohd Afzal and Shaukat Hussain Guru, husband of Afsan, were upheld by a Prevention of Terrorism Act court. While upholding the death sentence awarded to Afzal and Shaukat for causing death to nine people during the attack, the Court also sentenced them to death under Section 121 A of the Indian Penal Code for waging war against the country. The Court noted the gravity of the offence stating "the attack was on Parliament, when in session. The sovereignty of the country was attacked". The three men had been sentenced to death in December 2002, whilst Afsan had been sentenced to five years imprisonment. Rejecting the prosecution evidence linking Geelani to the conspiracy behind the attack, the Court said that the only piece of evidence against him was the telephonic conversation between him, Afzal and Shaukat. "This circumstance, in our opinion, does not even remotely, far less definitely and unerringly point towards the guilt of the accused S. A. R. Geelani," it said, adding that the prosecution failed to bring on record evidence to conclusively prove the guilt of the accused.