Supreme Court Stays Bombay HC Verdict Acquitting 12 in 2006 Mumbai Train Blasts

Supreme Court stays Bombay High Court order acquitting all 12 accused in 2006 Mumbai train blasts case.

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Bombay High Court's decision to acquit all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai local train bombings case. A special bench of Justices Anil Kilore and Shyam Chandak in the Bombay High Court had overturned the lower court's verdict on Monday, acquitting the 12 convicts. The High Court had stated that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused and acquitted them, giving them the benefit of doubt due to lack of evidence. Following this, the Maharashtra government challenged the High Court's decision in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, while hearing the case today, stayed the Bombay High Court's decision.

A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotishwar Singh issued notices to all the accused in the case and sought their response to the state government's appeal. Ten years ago, a special court in Mumbai had sentenced five of these 12 accused to death and seven to life imprisonment.

It may be recalled that between 6:23 pm and 6:29 pm on July 11, 2006, explosions in seven Mumbai local trains resulted in the deaths of at least 189 people and injured over 800 passengers. This event was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country.

What happened in the Mumbai Train Blast case in 19 years?

Following the 2006 Mumbai local train blasts, seven separate FIRs were registered at various police stations in the city. Subsequently, the investigation of all these cases was handed over to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). During July and August 2006, the ATS arrested 13 people in this case. On November 30, 2006, the investigating agency filed a chargesheet against a total of 30 accused, including 13 Pakistani nationals, many of whom are still absconding.

Following this, the trial began in a special court in 2007 and lasted for several years. After the hearing concluded on August 19, 2014, the court reserved its judgment. Then, on September 11, 2015, the special court convicted 12 out of 13 accused, while one accused was acquitted due to lack of evidence. On September 30, 2015, the court sentenced five convicts to death and seven to life imprisonment.

Against this decision, in October 2015, the Maharashtra government filed a petition in the Bombay High Court to confirm the death penalty of the five convicts. Meanwhile, all 12 convicts filed appeals in the High Court challenging their sentences and convictions. These appeals remained pending before various benches for years.

In June 2024, Ehtesham Siddiqui, a death row convict, filed an application in the Bombay High Court for speedy hearing of the appeals. Subsequently, in July 2024, the High Court constituted a division bench of Justices Kilore and Chandak to hear this case. From July 15, 2024, this bench started daily hearings of the appeals.

9 Accused Released from Jail

On January 31, 2025, the Bombay High Court concluded the hearing, reserved the matter for orders, and on July 21, 19 years after the blasts, acquitted all 12 convicts, giving them the benefit of doubt. It also ordered their immediate release from jail. Following this, 9 out of the 11 surviving accused were released from various jails in Maharashtra, while two are still in jail due to other pending cases against them. One death-row convict died of COVID-19 infection in 2021.