SC admits Kandahar hijack convict’s appeal against life sentence

New Delhi, April 21 : The Supreme Court on Friday admitted for hearing an appeal filed by Abdul Latif Adam Momin, a convict in the sensational hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 to Kandahar in December 1999, against the life imprisonment awarded to him in the case.
A Bench headed by Justice PC Ghose admitted Momin’s appeal after his counsel contended that there were flaws in the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s verdict upholding his conviction and life sentence given by a Special Court in Patiala. Indian Airlines flight IC-814 was hijacked on December 24, 1999, on its way from Kathmandu to Delhi with 179 passengers, including 24 foreigners and 11 crew members, after it took off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 4.10 pm.
It was diverted to Amritsar and then taken to Kandahar by the hijackers who stabbed to death a passenger, Rupin Katyal and injured another passenger Satnam Singh.The Indian Government was forced to release Maulana Masood Azhar, Umar Sheikh and Mohammed Zargar to secure the release of the passengers and the aircraft. An FIR was registered on December 29, 1999, at Amritsar regarding the hijacking. The high court had in February 2014 upheld the life imprisonment awarded to Momin but rejected the CBI’s plea to send him to the gallows. Momin was held to be one of the conspirators in the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 to Kandahar.