Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Jul 22: The Maharashtra government on Monday announced its decision to challenge the Bombay High Court's acquittal of 12 individuals convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts, calling the ruling “shocking.”
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed disappointment with the verdict and confirmed that the state will approach the Supreme Court. “I have reviewed the matter with legal experts. The high court’s decision will be contested in the Supreme Court,” Fadnavis said while speaking to the media.
The Bombay High Court’s ruling, delivered by a bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice S. Chandak, overturned the convictions of 12 out of 13 accused in the horrific serial bombings that rocked Mumbai’s suburban railway network on July 11, 2006, killing 187 people and injuring over 800.
The High Court ordered the immediate release of the 12 accused — five of whom were previously sentenced to death and seven to life imprisonment by a special MCOCA court in 2015. The 13th accused had been acquitted earlier at the trial court level.
The verdict represents a major setback for investigating agencies, with the High Court stating:
“It is unsafe to reach the satisfaction that the appellant accused has committed the offence… The judgment and order of conviction and sentence are liable to be quashed and set aside.”
The blasts, carried out during peak evening hours, involved seven pressure cooker bombs packed with a mix of RDX and ammonium nitrate. Within 11 minutes, explosions ripped through local trains on the Western Railway line between Churchgate and Borivali.
The case, investigated by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), alleged that the attack was masterminded by Pakistan’s ISI and executed by operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba with support from the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). A chargesheet was filed in November 2006 under MCOCA and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
However, the High Court raised serious concerns about the quality of the investigation, particularly allegations by the accused that they were tortured and forced into confessions. The judgment pointed to lapses in evidence and procedural irregularities.
All 12 acquitted individuals, who appeared via video conference from jails in Yerwada, Nashik, Amravati, and Nagpur, were visibly emotional and relieved after the verdict was read. Some had spent nearly 19 years in jail awaiting justice.
The case is now set for the next legal round as the state prepares its appeal before the Supreme Court, seeking to reinstate the earlier convictions and uphold the memory of one of Mumbai’s most devastating terror attacks.