Mumbai: In a significant development in twin bomb blasts case of August 25 last year, the two accused have filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court challenging a Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTA) court order, which declared Zaheed Yusuf Patni as an approver.

On May fifth, the POTA court had declared Patni as an approver in the case after he expressed his desire to make a true and voluntary disclosure of the conspiracy leading to the blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar that claimed 50 lives and injured over 100.

Ashrat, Ansari and Mohammed Hanif challenging the order of designated judge A P Bhangale, saying the court had shown undue hurry in declaring Patni as the approver. The appeal, filed by their lawyer Sashank Kunjuraman, would come up for hearing before justice Vijaya Tahilramani in June midweek.

They said the POTA judge did not hear all the accused and asked only one of them to file his say. All the six accused should have been heard before declaring Patni as the approver, the duo contended.

Moreover, under CRPC an accused had to come forward before the court voluntary to say that he was repenting for the crime and should be granted pardon on his making full and true disclosure of the events leading to the crime. In this case, it was the prosecution that had moved an application for making him approver, they contended.

They said the judge had not taken cognisance of a letter written by them to the court complaining that the prosecutor and investigating officer had visited the prison to plead with Patni to become approver.

The prosecution alleged that Patni was a Lashkar-e-Toiba operative and was fully aware about the conspiracy hatched in Dubai and Mumbai leading to the blasts. Patni was deported from Dubai after the explosions.

Patni had written a letter to the police commissioner expressing his desire to become an approver. He had also made a statement of confession under POTA voluntarily, prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had told the court on May 5.

Patni informed the POTA court that he wanted to become an approver because he was repenting over his participation in the crime and was willing to disclose the true facts to his knowledge about the conspiracy voluntarily.

According to prosecution, Arshat and Haneef had attended conspiracy meetings in Dubai to avenge the killings of Muslims in Gujarat. On their return to India, they assembled bombs at Haneef's residence. Haneef's wife, Fahmida, also helped the duo in making bombs along with co-accused Nasir who was killed in a police encounter later.

Armed with explosives in gunny bags, Arshat and Nasir boarded a taxi to Zaveri Bazaar while Haneef and Fahimida boarded another taxi to Gateway of India. Both the vehicles exploded killing several people.