New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, agreed to hear an appeal by the Maharashtra government against the Bombay High Court’s verdict acquitting all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts case. The matter will be heard on July 24.
The bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice N V Anjaria, listed the matter for Thursday after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the state, mentioned it for urgent listing, citing an “element of urgency”.
The Bombay High Court, on Monday, acquitted all 12 men, stating that the prosecution had “utterly failed” to prove its case. The bench remarked it was “hard to believe the accused committed the crime”. The devastating serial blasts claimed over 180 lives and injured hundreds more.
The High Court, while acquitting the accused observed that the Maharashtra Anri-Terrorism Squad (ATS) subjected the accused to the “most inhuman and barbaric” torture. ATS officers, frustrated during the probe, extracted confessional statements from the accused — rendering them inadmissible as evidence, the court observed.
A special division bench comprising Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam Chandak, after evaluating the evidence, remarked that the accused had been held in prolonged police custody — up to 76 days. The judges observed that the accused withdrew their confessions the moment they were presented before the court for judicial custody.
The 7/11 Mumbai blasts refer to the coordinated series of bomb explosions that rocked Mumbai’s suburban railway network on 11 July 2006. Within a span of 11 minutes, seven bombs went off in first-class compartments of packed local trains during peak evening hours.
The blasts left over 180 people dead and more than 800 injured, making it one of the deadliest terror strikes in India’s history. The Maharashtra ATS arrested multiple suspects, alleging a conspiracy linked to terror outfits operating from across the border.