New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a stay on the Bombay High Court’s recent decision to acquit 12 individuals accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, which claimed 187 lives. The Maharashtra government, challenging the high court’s ruling, prompted the top court to schedule a hearing for Thursday, July 24, to address the appeal urgently.
The Bombay High Court had overturned the convictions of the 12 accused on Monday, citing the prosecution’s failure to provide sufficient evidence. The 2015 special court ruling under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) had sentenced five of the accused to death and seven to life imprisonment. The high court, however, found the evidence, including confessional statements, unreliable, alleging they were obtained through coercion and lacked credibility.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Maharashtra government, urged the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice B R Gavai, for an expedited hearing. Mehta noted that eight of the acquitted individuals had already been released from jails in Nagpur, Amravati, and Pune following the high court’s verdict. Chief Justice Gavai acknowledged the urgency, scheduling the hearing while observing that some accused had already been freed.
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The 2006 Mumbai train bombings, executed on July 11, targeted the city’s Western Railway network during evening rush hour. Seven coordinated explosions in first-class train compartments killed 187 people and injured over 800, marking one of India’s deadliest terror attacks. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which led the investigation, alleged the accused were linked to the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The Supreme Court’s stay temporarily halts the release of any remaining accused still in custody, pending the outcome of the appeal. The Maharashtra government argues that the high court’s acquittal overlooked critical procedural safeguards and evidence, including the recovery of explosives, which the state contends was dismissed on technical grounds. The appeal seeks to reinstate the convictions, emphasizing the gravity of the terror attack and the need for justice.
The hearing on July 24 will determine the next steps in this nearly two-decade-long legal battle, as the state pushes to overturn the acquittal and address the concerns raised by the Bombay High Court’s scathing critique of the original investigation.