The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 men who were earlier convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blast case. The court said that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused.
A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak gave the judgment, overturning the trial court’s 2015 verdict. “The prosecution has utterly failed to prove the case against the accused. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence, their conviction is quashed and set aside,” the High Court stated in its official ruling.
Court Rejects Death Penalty, Orders Release of All Accused
The High Court refused to uphold the death penalty for five of the convicts and life imprisonment for the remaining seven. It ordered the immediate release of all the accused unless they are wanted in any other case. The bench observed that the evidence presented during the trial did not support the prosecution’s claims. The court noted that the delay in judgment did not affect the legal outcome and maintained that the burden of proof was not met. The matter had been reserved for judgment five months ago before Monday’s final verdict.
Background: The 7/11 Mumbai Train Blasts
On July 11, 2006, a series of coordinated bomb blasts took place inside seven coaches of local trains in Mumbai’s western suburbs. The explosions killed 189 passengers and injured 824 others. The blasts occurred during peak evening hours and were among the deadliest terror attacks in India. In 2015, a special court found 12 men guilty, sentencing five to death and seven to life imprisonment.
The court said the accused had planted the bombs with the intention to kill. The recent High Court ruling, however, has overturned this decision completely.
Accused Names and Their Previous Sentences
The trial court sentenced Kamal Ansari (Bihar), Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh (Mumbai), Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui (Thane), Naveed Hussain Khan (Secunderabad), and Asif Khan (Jalgaon) to death for planting the bombs. The court gave life sentences to Tanveer Ahmed Mohammed Ibrahim Ansari, Mohammed Majid Mohammed Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh, and Zameer Ahmed Latiur Rehman Shaikh. Wahid Shaikh, another accused, was acquitted in 2015 after spending nine years in jail. Now, the High Court has acquitted all 12 men.
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Swastika Sruti is a Senior Sub Editor at NewsX Digital with 5 years of experience shaping stories that matter. She loves tracking politics- national and global trends, and never misses a chance to dig deeper into policies and developments. Passionate about what’s happening around us, she brings sharp insight and clarity to every piece she works on. When not curating news, she’s busy exploring what’s next in the world of public interest. You can reach her at [swastika.newsx@gmail.com]
