Overview
- The Gujarat High Court disposed of Mohammed Ashgar Ali’s petition and directed the State government to take an appropriate decision on his remission application preferably within six months from receipt of the order.
- The court noted on June 17 that jail remarks show the remission process is under way and that the advisory committee’s opinion has been received and will be placed before the competent authority.
- Ali is the convict identified by investigators as the shooter in the March 26, 2003 killing of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya and is serving a life sentence after a 2007 CBI court conviction.
- Ali filed for remission in 2025 after completing 14 years in prison, claiming good conduct; the request now rests with the state authority that decides remission, not the court.
- The case has a contested legal history — a 2011 High Court acquittal was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2019 — and the CBI concluded the murder was revenge for the 2002 communal riots, a context likely to shape public reaction and the government’s decision.