Mohammed Afzal, a Jaish-e-Mohammed militant, has been allowed to argue his defence against a death sentence, handed down to him by a special Prevention of Terrorism Act court, in the Parliament attack case.

On Thursday, a Delhi high court bench comprising Justice Usha Mehra and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog directed the Tihar jail authorities to produce Afzal before the court on February 3, when the reference for confirming the capital punishment would be heard.

Two others have also been awarded the death sentence along with Afzal. They are Jaish-e-Mohammed militant Shaukat Hussain Guru and suspended lecturer of a Delhi college S A R Geelani.

The high court, on receiving a reference from the trial court for confirming the death sentence on the trio, had issued notices seeking their presence in person or through an advocate.

Shaukat and Geelani have already challenged their conviction and punishment, while Afzal's appeal could not be admitted earlier due to technical flaws.

Afzal, in his appeal, has alleged that he was not properly defended in the trial court.

PTI