New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday dropped a 1994 case under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) against top Lashkar-e-Taiba bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda.
Tunda is one of the 20 terrorists India had asked Pakistan to hand over after the 2008 Mumbai attack.
Additional Sessions Judge Neena Bansal Krishna discharged 73-year-old Tunda of the alleged offences under the provisions of TADA, Explosive Substance Act, the Arms Act and under section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
However, Tunda will have to remain in jail as several other cases are pending against him.
The police, in its supplementary chargesheet against Tunda, had said that he was declared a proclaimed offender by the court earlier and he was involved in various terror cases in India.
A special Cell of Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet against Tunda in a case in which five accused were arrested on January 17, 1994, and 150 kg explosives and six daggers were allegedly recovered from their possession.
The trial court in its judgement in December 1999 had convicted the five accused - Abdul Haq, Aftab, Abdul Wahid, Afaq and Afran Ahmad - under the provisions of Explosive Substance Act read with section 120(B) of the IPC.
Tunda was arrested by the special cell on August 16, 2013 from the Indo-Nepal border.
Meanwhile, advocate MS Khan, appearing for Tunda, had argued that there was no evidence in the case and confessional statements of the other arrested accused in the case cannot be relied upon against his client.
Mr Khan had also contended that there was no material to connect Tunda with the alleged recovery of the explosives.
However, public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan had argued that there was a disclosure statement of other co-accused who were convicted earlier in the case under provisions of Explosive Substances Act.
The special cell of the Delhi police had told the court that there was circumstantial evidence against Tunda as 40 kg explosives were recovered from the house of his brother in Delhi, where he was also residing, in 1994.
The police had said that the other accused, who had faced trial in the case, had also given confessional statements that had hatched the conspiracy for terror strikes on instructions of Tunda.
Tunda is suspected to be involved in 40 bombings in India.