Shahid Azmi, who represented several TADA accused and those in the 7/11 serial train blasts in Mumbai was shot dead at his office in suburban Kurla.
Azmi (31) was also the lawyer for Fahim Ansari, accused of helping the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
Four assailants barged into his office in Taxi Men colony in Kurla and shot two bullets into him at point blank range, at around 8:30 pm.
He was rushed to the Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar where he was declared dead.
SIMI inducted him at a very young age when they were sponsoring education of Muslim boys, who were in their formative years.
In an interview in 2006 given to a publication, Azmi had said: 'SIMI moulded and educated me. There was no access to libraries in Govandi (locality in north-east Mumbai where he hailed from). There was no circle of educated youths; no playgrounds or fun or games for Muslim children. After SIMI came, we read our first books of religious discourses in English. We had access to its library and monthly magazine Islamic Movement brought out in several languages.'
Azmi had joined SIMI in 1992 and left it in 1999.
While behind bars at the Arthur Road jail from 1992 to 1999 (for allegedly indulging in violence a few days after the Babri Masjid was demolished), Azmi pursued a college degree. He also did a postgraduate course in creative writing before being released in 1999. After the supreme court acquitted him, he enrolled for an LLB course.
According to Section 23 (A) of the Advocates' Act, there are three conditions under which a person cannot practise law: if the person is convicted in any case involving moral turpitude, if the person is declared insolvent or if the person is convicted under the Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Sources said that Azmi did not fall into any of these categories and had even declared his past before enrolling at the bar.
Additional Reportage: PTI
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