2006 Mumbai train blasts: Maharashtra should appeal against High Court verdict in SC, says former ATS chief KP Raghuwanshi
The Bombay High Court set aside a special court verdict that awarded the death sentence to five accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts, and refused the Maharashtra Government's plea seeking confirmation of their sentences. The high court acquitted all 12 accused in the case, including those sentenced to life imprisonment.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Raghuvanshi said, 'I believe we had made a very strong case on the basis of which the trial court had convicted the accused. Now, ATS will examine the judgment, and in consultation with the PP (public prosecutor) and other legal experts, they will decide on the appeal. In my opinion, they should definitely go to the appeal against the judgment.'
'We are pretty sure that we have done a good investigation and collected ample evidence; that's the reason why the trial court had convicted the accused previously. I have been retired from ATS for more than 10 years. The current ATS chief's team will examine the judgment and decide on the appeal. I believe they should appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court of India,' Raghuvanshi added.
As many as 15 ATS officers investigated the train serial blasts that occurred on July 11, 2006, in seven western suburban coaches of a train, killing 189 commuters and injuring 824.
ATS arrested Kamal Ahmed Mohd Vakil Ansari from Bihar, Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh from Mumbai, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddique from Thane, Naveed Hussain Khan from Secunderabad, and Asif Khan Bashir Khan from Jalgaon in Maharashtra. All of them were previously found guilty of planting the bombs by the trial court.
Besides this, ATS also arrested Tanveer Ahmed Mohammed Ibrahim Ansari, Mohammed Majid Mohammed Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh, and Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Shaikh, who were awarded life terms. One of the accused, Wahid Shaikh, who was arrested by ATS, was acquitted by the trial court after spending nine years in jail.
ATS investigators had recorded statements of around 250 witnesses, including 92 prosecution witnesses, and gathered evidence spanning over 169 volumes.
Validating ATS's investigation, and after an over eight-year trial, a special court under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) in October 2015 awarded the death penalty to five of the convicts and life terms to seven others.
However, nine years later, the Bombay High Court set aside the previous verdict. 'It is unsafe to reach the satisfaction that the accused appellants have committed the offence for which they have been convicted and sentenced. Therefore, the previous judgment and order of conviction and sentence are liable to be quashed and set aside,' the court said.
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