The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily suspended the death sentence awarded to Lashkar-e-Taiba militant and Pakistani national Mohammed Arif alias Ashfaq for his role in the December 2000 terror attack on the Red Fort here. While staying the sentence on an appeal by the convict, a bench of Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice P. Sathsivam issued notices to the Delhi government and the city police, seeking their response. On Sep 13, 2007 Delhi High Court had upheld Ashfaq`s death sentence, while acquitting six others convicted for the terror attack on Dec 22, 2000, which had resulted in the death of three army personnel deployed there. A division bench of the high court, comprising Justice R.S. Sodhi and Justice P.K. Bhasin, had acquitted the six others who were sentenced to different jail terms by a trial court in 2005. The trial court had awarded the death sentence to Ashfaq and life imprisonment to Nazir Ahmed Quasid and his son, Farooq Ahmed Quasid. The high court acquitted Nazir Ahmed, Farooq Ahmed, Ashfaq`s wife Rehmana Yusuf Farooqui, Matloob, Babar Mohsin and Sadaquat Ali in the case.
Ashfaq was sentenced under Section 121 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for waging war against the government and Section 302 for committing the murder of three army personnel. Upholding Ashfaq`s sentence, the high court had said: "Ashfaq was responsible for the attack, and the attack was the result of a well-planned conspiracy by him and some other militants."