For the first time in history, 38 people have been sentenced to death together. Earlier, 26 people were sentenced to death over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

A special court awarded the death sentence to 38 convicts for three offences under Section 302 of the IPC and Section 10 and 16(1) (2) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for their involvement in the 2008 Ahmedabad blasts, while the remaining 11 convicts got life imprisonment on similar charges.

All the convicts except Usman Agarbattiwala have been fined Rs 2.85 lakh. Agarbattiwala has been fined Rs 2.88 lakh for 26 different offences under the IPC, UAPA, Explosive Substances Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Properties Act and Arms Act. Of this fine, compensation of Rs 1 lakh has been ordered to the deceased, Rs 50,000 to the severely injured and Rs 25,000 to the other injured.

The arguments on the quantum of sentence concluded on Tuesday and the court of special judge A R Patel had kept the matter of judgment for February 18.

For the first time in history, 38 people have been sentenced to death together. Earlier, 26 people were sentenced to death over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The accused are currently lodged in jails in Ahmedabad, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra.

Khalid Sheikh, counsel for the accused, said, "After studying this judgment, if our client tells us, we will appeal to the High Court. We hoped that fewer people would be punished." Another counsel for the accused, MM Sheikh said the trial in the case had been going on for a long time and they will now study the verdict before deciding what to do next.

In the serial blasts on July 26, 2008, about 15 complaints were registered by the police in Surat and about 20 in Ahmedabad. A total of 78 accused have been prosecuted in the case, while eight are still wanted by the police in the case. Yasin Bhatkal, the mastermind behind the 2008 serial blasts, is lodged in a Delhi jail, while Abdul Subhan alias Taukir is lodged in a Cochin jail.

HM Dhruv, Amit Patel and Mitesh Amin as well as Sudhir Brahmbhatt have been involved in the case as special government counsel.

The city was rocked on Saturday, July 26, 2008 by bomb blasts planted in 20 places on bicycles, cars, and buses in a 90-minute period from 6.15 pm to 7.45 pm. The blasts killed at least 56 people and injured 246 others. Police solved the case in just 19 days and arrested the accused in stages before filing the charge sheet in court.