Image Source: Agencies

July 21, 2025: Monday, 19 years after more than 180 people were killed in multiple train explosions in this city, the Bombay High Court acquitted all 12 accused, stating that the prosecution had completely failed to prove their case and that it was "hard to believe they committed the crime." The judgement comes as a major embarrassment to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) which conducted the probe into the case.
According to a special bench composed of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak, the prosecution did not even record the kind of bombs that were used in the crime, and the evidence it relied on was insufficient to convict the accused. While quashing the conviction of the 12 individuals, the HC stated that the witness statements and alleged recoveries made from the accused have no evidentiary value. Five of the individuals had been sentenced to death and seven had been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court. On July 11, 2006, seven explosions struck Mumbai local trains at various locations on the western line, killing over 180 people and injuring a number of others. "The prosecution has completely failed to prove the accused's case." It is difficult to accept that the accused actually committed the crime. As a result, their conviction is overturned and thrown out,” the HC stated. Five of the convicts were given the death penalty, while seven were given life sentences by a special court in 2015, which the Bench rejected and acquitted. The HC said the accused shall be released from jail forthwith if not wanted in any other case.
It stated that the prosecution's evidence, witness statements, and alleged recoveries from the accused cannot be considered conclusive evidence for a conviction. In its decision, the Bench also criticized the prosecution for failing to question crucial witnesses and for improperly sealing and maintaining the recovered explosives and circuit boxes that were allegedly used to assemble bombs. The type of bombs used in the alleged crime has not even been disclosed by the prosecution. Hence, the evidence of recovery is not sufficient to prove the offence against the accused,” it said.
The HC also said that some of the accused's alleged confessional statements appeared to have been taken after they were subjected to torture. “The confessional statements are found to be incomplete and not truthful as some parts are a copy-paste of each other. The accused have demonstrated that torture was carried out at the time, the Bench stated. The court also rejected the accused's test identification parade, noting that the involved police had no authority to conduct it. The HC also refused to accept the testimony of witnesses, such as taxi drivers who drove the accused to Churchgate railway station, witnesses who witnessed the accused planting a bomb, witnesses who witnessed the alleged conspiracy, and witnesses who witnessed the bombs being assembled. "The witness statements are conclusive evidence to convict the accused and are neither credible nor trustworthy." It stated, "The defense has succeeded in shattering the same. The evidence is not safe to rely on." According to the HC, witnesses identified the accused in front of the police during an identification parade four months after the incident and in court four years later. "These witnesses did not have sufficient opportunities to see the accused on the day of the incident to correctly identify them later." It stated, "We do not find any such reasons to jog their memory and recall the faces." In the case, 12 people were found guilty by a special court in 2015. Five of them were given the death penalty, and seven were given life sentences. While the appeal was pending, one of the convicts passed away. After the HC pronounced its judgment on Monday, the convicts, who were produced before the court via video conference from various jails across Maharashtra, thanked their lawyers.
Kamal Ansari, who is no longer alive, Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan, and Asif Khan were all on death row. They had been found guilty of a number of other charges, including planting bombs, by the special court. 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 Latiur Rehman Shaikh were all sentenced to life in prison by it. One of the accused, Wahid Shaikh, was acquitted by the trial court in 2015.