The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 men who were earlier convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, declaring them innocent. The court said the prosecution had completely failed to prove the charges.
A division bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam Chandak said, “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.”
In 2015, a special court had found the 12 accused guilty. Five of them — Faisal Sheikh, Asif Khan, Kamal Ansari, Ehtesham Siddiqui and Naveed Khan — were given the death penalty. The remaining seven — Mohammed Sajid Ansari, Mohammed Ali, Dr Tanveer Ansari, Majid Shafi, Muzzammil Shaikh, Sohail Shaikh and Zamir Shaikh — were sentenced to life in prison.
The case relates to the deadly bomb blasts that shook Mumbai on July 11, 2006. Seven bombs were placed in pressure cookers inside first-class coaches of Mumbai’s suburban trains during the evening rush hour. The blasts killed 189 people and injured more than 800. It led to one of the biggest counter-terror investigations in India.
The High Court gave its verdict at 9:30 AM on Monday, setting aside all the earlier convictions. It noted that the statements of many prosecution witnesses were not trustworthy. Speaking about the identification process, the judges said, “Taxi drivers or other individuals present at the scene did not give any strong reason for identifying the accused — especially after more than 100 days had passed since the blasts.”
The court also raised doubts about the recovery of items like explosives, weapons, and maps. “The recovery of such items holds no value in this case since the prosecution could not even clearly identify the type of bombs used in the attacks,” the judges added.
With this verdict, the 12 men who spent years in jail now walk free, as the High Court finds no reliable evidence to support their conviction.
