Mumbai, July 21 The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 men convicted by a lower court in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts, which claimed 189 lives and left over 800 people injured.
The verdict was given by a bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice S. Chandak.
The High Court’s order is a major blow to the investigation agencies. With this decision, the sentences imposed by the special court earlier have been cancelled.
There were in all 13 men, of whom one was already acquitted by the special court. The high court has ordered the release of 12, of whom five were on death sentence and seven others on life imprisonment, to be released from jail immediately.
The serial bomb blasts in a local train in Mumbai killed 189 people and injured about 824. Five explosions took place in local trains in Mumbai in 11 minutes between Churchgate and Borivali stations.
The explosives used in the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts were a mixture of RDX and Ammonium Nitrate. The bombs were packed into seven pressure cookers and put in bags. Forensic analysis confirmed the presence of these explosives in the debris.
The serial bomb blasts were carried out by Islamic militants backed by Pakistan. During the attack, seven blasts ripped through trains in the evening rush hour.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had filed a charge sheet in November 2006 under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The prosecution had argued that the attack was planned by Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, and carried out by operatives of Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba with help from the Students' Islamic Movement of India, a banned Indian group. However, the police and investigation agencies were unable to present evidence properly in the court, leading to the acquittal of 12 men after 19 years of languishing in jail.
In 2015, a special court had convicted 12 accused in the case -- sentenced five of them to death and seven others to life imprisonment. Faisal Sheikh, Asif Khan, Kamal Ansari, Ehtesham Siddiqui, and Naveed Khan were sentenced to death. They had challenged this sentence in the High Court.
The convicts in the case had alleged that the police had beaten them up and recorded their statements. Due to this, the Bombay High Court had raised questions on the investigation of the Mumbai Police.
The state government had filed the petition in the High Court to confirm the death sentence pronounced by the special court. In Monday's hearing, the 12 convicts, from Yerwada, Nashik, Amravati and Nagpur jails, appeared through video conference. After the verdict, the men expressed happiness.
The bench led by Justice Kilor held, “It is unsafe to reach the satisfaction that the appellant accused have committed the offence for which they have been convicted and sentenced. Therefore, the accused judgment and order of conviction and sentence are liable to be quashed and set aside.”
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