2006 Mumbai train blasts: Maharashtra govt moves SC against acquittal of 12 accused

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court’s verdict acquitting all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts case in which 187 people were killed and 824 others injured.

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“It’s a serious matter. The Special Leave Petition (SLP) is ready. Please list it tomorrow. There is urgency,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a Bench led by CJI BR Gavai on behalf of the Maharashtra government.

“We read that 8 accused have been released already,” the CJI said as he agreed to take it up on Thursday.

Noting that the prosecution “utterly failed” to prove the case, the Bombay High Court had on Monday set aside the conviction of 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case.

“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,” a Special Bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak of the Bombay High Court said.

The evidence relied upon by the prosecution was not conclusive to convict the accused persons, the high court said.

A special court had in 2015 convicted the 12 persons, of whom five had been sentenced to death and seven to life imprisonment.