2006 Mumbai train blasts case: CM Fadnavis calls Bombay high court verdict acquitting all 12 'very shocking'; vows to challenge in Supreme Court
Devendra Fadnavis
on Monday condemned the Bombay high court verdict acquitting all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, calling it 'very shocking' and stating the state government would challenge it in the Supreme Court.
'The verdict of the Bombay high court is very shocking and we will challenge it in the Supreme Court,' Fadnavis told reporters.
Earlier in the day, a special bench of the Bombay high court set aside the 2015 judgment of a special MCOCA court that had convicted the 12 accused, including five who were given the death penalty. The high court said the prosecution 'utterly failed' to prove its case.
Also read: 2006 Mumbai train blasts: Bombay HC acquits all 12 accused; says prosecution utterly failed to prove case against them
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi reacted to the verdict by saying, 'This is very sad, instead of giving them the death penalty, they have been acquitted.
This shows that the case we presented was not foolproof, it had loopholes; I believe this is the fault of the state government. The state government did not take it seriously and present a serious argument, which is why this decision has come... I hope that Maharashtra's Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the Chief Minister, will challenge this Court verdict.
..'
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya also expressed concern over the acquittals.
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'In these 19 years, several members of their families died, they migrated, they forgot about it. But this is a huge jolt that after 19 years, it is being said that nothing had happened. An incident did take place, it was expected of the judiciary to pronounce a punishment. But they were pronounced innocent. Does this mean that there was fraudulence in the lower court or was there issues in the 2006 investigation? But topmost legal experts will do a presentation before the Supreme Court and there will be justice,' he said.
The high court, in its 671-page judgment, observed that the prosecution failed to establish the type of explosive used and found the confessional statements inadmissible due to allegations of torture. It also noted irregularities in the identification parade and found several prosecution witnesses unreliable.
The High Court began its 671-page judgment by stating, 'Punishing the actual perpetrator of a crime is a concrete and essential step toward curbing criminal activities, upholding the rule of law, and ensuring the safety and security of citizens.
But creating a false appearance of having solved a case — by presenting that the accused have been brought to justice — gives a misleading sense of resolution. This deceptive closure undermines public trust and falsely reassures society, while in reality, the true threat remains at large.Essentially, this is what the case at hand conveys.
'
The case involved seven blasts on Mumbai suburban trains during peak evening hours on July 11, 2006, which killed 189 and injured over 800 people.
The trial court had relied heavily on confessions recorded under MCOCA provisions. The High Court found these lacked credibility and raised serious doubts about the investigation and trial process.
Meanwhile, defence advocate Tahera Qureshi who represented one of the accused, says, "We are very happy with today's decision because we had been waiting for this for 19 years, especially after the sentence was imposed and 4-5 people received death sentences. I represent Zamir Sheikh, one of the accused. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, believing that he knew the incident was going to happen. Then he allegedly went abroad for training and afterwards returned to India, where he participated in inspection.
.. When my client was arrested, he was 25-26 years old and came from a middle-class family. He was falsely implicated in this case..."
'Prosecution failed to establish type of bomb used'
Here's what court observed:
Very abnormal that witnesses could identify accused after four years
Prosecution evidence not safe to base conviction
Some witnesses were stock witness
Witness who 'saw' bombs being assembled remained silent for 100 days, originally a suspect. Changed statement.
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