In a significant development, the Supreme Court of India on Thursday stayed the effect of the Bombay High Court’s judgment that had acquitted all 12 individuals convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts case.
However, the apex court made it clear that the acquitted individuals would not be taken back into custody for now.
A bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh issued notices to all 12 acquitted accused, seeking their replies to the appeal filed by the Maharashtra government against the high court’s ruling.
“We have been informed that all the respondents have been released and there is no question of bringing them back to prison,” the bench observed. “However, taking note of the Solicitor General’s submission on points of law, we direct that the high court’s judgment shall not be treated as a precedent. Accordingly, there will be a stay on the impugned judgment to that limited extent.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the Maharashtra government, argued that the acquittal was flawed on several legal grounds.
One key objection raised by the state in its Supreme Court appeal was that the high court disregarded the recovery of RDX explosives from one of the accused.
The high court had rejected this evidence, stating that the seizure was not sealed with a lac seal, which the government deemed an overly “hyper-technical” basis for dismissal.
Further, the state government emphasized that procedural safeguards under Section 23(2) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) were followed diligently.
The prosecution maintained that the required sanctions, including those by high-ranking officials such as PW-185 Anami Roy, were valid and had been presented without contradiction during the trial.
Earlier this week, a special bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak, had overturned the 2015 convictions handed down by the special MCOCA court.
The high court ruled that the prosecution failed to conclusively establish the involvement of the 12 accused, calling the allegations difficult to believe and pointing to significant lapses in the investigative and evidentiary processes.
At the time of the 2015 verdict, five of the accused had been sentenced to death, while seven others received life imprisonment. One of the death row convicts passed away in 2021.
The 2006 Mumbai train bombings remain one of the deadliest terror attacks in India’s history. On July 11, 2006, seven blasts occurred within minutes of each other across suburban trains on Mumbai’s western railway line, claiming the lives of over 180 people and injuring hundreds more.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which led the investigation, had alleged that the accused were affiliated with the banned outfit Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and had collaborated with members of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to execute the attacks.
The acquittal verdict by the Bombay High Court earlier this week had drawn sharp criticism and was seen as a major setback for the ATS, prompting the state government to urgently approach the Supreme Court.
The top court’s interim order ensures that the legal and evidentiary conclusions drawn by the Bombay High Court cannot be relied upon in future cases, while leaving the acquitted individuals free unless further developments unfold.
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