2006 Mumbai Train Bombings: After Bombay High Court rap, State appoints Raja Thakare as special prosecutor

The Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court on Friday that Senior Advocate Raja Thakare has been appointed as a special public prosecutor to represent the Maharashtra government in confirmation petitions and appeals arising from 2006 Mumbai train blast cases..The government informed a division bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and Rajesh S Patil of the decision after the Court had on September 6 rapped the State for its apparent lack of seriousness in conducting the cases arising from the blasts. .After the State told the Court of its decision, the division bench said that it will begin hearing the confirmation petitions from October 5 on a day-to-day basis and also said that it will not allow any adjournments. .On July 11, 2006, RDX blasts at 7 locations on the suburban rail network of Mumbai had claimed 189 lives and injured 800.After a trial that went on for 8 years, 12 out of the 13 accused were convicted. 5 of the 12 persons convicted were given the death sentence in 2015 by the Special Court under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA). Out of these 5, one convict died in 2021 due to COVID. The remaining accused were sentenced to life imprisonment.The State of Maharashtra approached the High Court seeking confirmation of the death sentence as required under the law.All the accused also filed appeals challenging their respective sentences..During the hearing today, a counsel representing one of the convicts requested the bench to schedule a hearing after 6 weeks instead of after 4 weeks.The division bench rejected this request and clarified that none of the parties will be granted adjournment for any reason whatsoever.“You are getting 4 weeks. This matter is listed time and again before court and considering its gravity we deem it appropriate to fix the matter for hearing on day to day basis. We direct convicts to commence argument. No adjournment on whatsoever ground will be allowed”, the Court said..The counsel appearing for convicts also requested the court to call for the physical presence of the convicts in court when the matters are being argued. Thakare and additional public prosecutor Mankuwar Deshmukh told the Court that due to security concerns, this request should be rejected. Thakare requested the court to grant permission to the convicts to remain present virtually. The Court then posted the applications to allow physical presence for hearing on October 3.