Maharashtra moves Supreme Court against Bombay High Court acquittal of 7/11 Mumbai blasts accused

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against Bombay High Court's decision to acquit all the twelve accused in the 7/11 train blasts case of 2006 nearly a decade after a special court awarded death penalty to five accused and life sentences to the remaining [The State of Maharashtra v. Kamal Ahmed Mohd. Vakil Ansari and Ors].

The State government's Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the High Court decision was mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who sought urgent listing of the matter.

"It is a serious matter. SLP is ready. Please list it tomorrow. There is urgency," the SG said.

"We read 8 accused released already," the CJI replied.

He eventually agreed to list the case tomorrow.

The case pertains to the serial bomb blasts that occurred on July 11, 2006, in which seven bombs exploded in suburban trains on Mumbai’s Western Railway line, killing 187 people and injuring more than 800.

Following a prolonged trial under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the special court in October 2015 sentenced five of the accused to death and seven to life imprisonment.

These included Kamal Ansari, Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan and Asif Khan. All were held guilty of planting the bombs.

Kamal Ansari died in 2021 due to COVID-19 while lodged in Nagpur prison.

The seven accused sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court were Tanveer Ahmed Ansari, Mohammed Majid Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam, Mohammed Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh and Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Shaikh.

The convicts then filed appeals against their convictions and sentences. In accordance with Section 366 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the trial court also made a reference to the High Court for confirmation of the death sentences.

The High Court Bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak acquitted all accused while observing that "the prosecution utterly failed in establishing the case beyond reasonable doubts".

The Court described the investigation and trial process as fraught with serious irregularities and observed that the prosecution’s case gave the public a “misleading sense of resolution” while “the true threat remains at large.”

The High Court found the statements of nearly all prosecution witnesses unreliable. According to the Court, there was no reason for the taxi drivers or people in the train to remember the accused after almost 100 days of the blast.

On the recovery of evidence such as bombs, guns, maps etc, the Court said that the recovery was immaterial and not important to the case as the prosecution failed to identify the type of the bomb used for the blasts.