The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted 12 accused of the 2006 Mumbai train blasts. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed shock and stated that the government would challenge the Bombay HC verdict in the Supreme Court.
“The verdict of the Bombay High Court is very shocking and we will challenge it in the Supreme Court”, CM Fadnavis told reporters on July 21.
Seven blasts had ripped through Mumbai local trains at various locations on the western line on July 11, 2006, killing more than 180 persons and injuring several others.
Nineteen years later, the Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 accused, saying the prosecution utterly failed to prove the case and it was “hard to believe they committed the crime”.
A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak said the prosecution has failed even to bring on record the type of bombs used in the crime and that the evidence relied on by it was not conclusive to convict the accused persons.
The Maharashtra government will assess the merits of the Bombay High Court order acquitting all 12 accused in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts before deciding whether to challenge it in the Supreme Court, state minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said.
“The Maharashtra government will assess the merits of the case before deciding to challenge the HC decision to acquit all the accused. Before that, we will discuss aspects including the merits of the judgement and reasons for the acquittal. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will also look into it. The state government will move the Supreme Court only after the assessment,” Bawankule told reporters.
If the state has any additional information, CM Fadnavis will present it in detail, said Bawankule, who is a former president of the Maharashtra unit of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya on Monday visited Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Iqbal Singh Chahal at Mantralaya, accompanied by relatives of the victims of the serial blasts.
Somaiya claimed Fadnavis has assured the delegation that the government would seek the assistance of top legal experts and approach the Supreme Court at the earliest.
He also appealed to Fadnavis to constitute a team of investigators and legal experts to address the shortcomings in the previous probe into the train bombings.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had conducted the probe into the case.
A special court had, in 2015, convicted 12 persons in the case, of whom five were sentenced to death and the remaining seven were given life imprisonment. One of the convicts died pending hearing of the appeal.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on July 21 asked whether the government would take action against officers of Maharashtra ATS (Anti-Terror Squad) who investigated the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case of 2006 after the Bombay High Court acquitted all 12 accused in the case.
“12 Muslim men were in Jail for 18 years for a crime they didn’t commit. Their prime life is gone. 180 families who lost their loved ones, several injured no closure for them. Will the government takeaction against officers of Maharashtra ATS who investigated this case ?” the Hyderabad MP asked in a post on X.