The Supreme Court of India on Thursday, July 24, stayed the Bombay High Court judgement acquitting all 12 accused of the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts case. The case was heard by the bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh, who stated that the high court judgment shall not be treated as a precedent.
The apex court has also issued notices to all the accused in the case. The court, however, did not stay the release of the accused from prison. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Maharashtra government, told the upper court that while all the accused in the case have been acquitted, the concern lies in certain observations made in the Bombay High Court verdict, which could impact trials in other MCOCA-related cases. The Supreme Court, while staying this part of the High Court’s order, clarified that the Bombay HC judgment will not serve as a precedent in other cases.
The developments came as the top court was hearing a petition by the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government challenging the High Court verdict. More than 180 people were killed in the seven train blasts in Mumbai. On Monday, the High Court had acquitted all the 12 accused, saying the prosecution had utterly failed to prove the case and it was "hard to believe the accused committed the crime".
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The court said since all the accused were released, there was no question of sending them back to the prison. "However, on submissions of learned SG, the impugned judgment will not be treated as precedent," it said. Justice Sundresh said that he read the case files and learnt that some of the accused are Pakistani nationals.
In its order, the High Court 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."