In a significant development in the long-running 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Bombay High Court’s order that had acquitted all 12 accused in the deadly terror attack that claimed 189 lives and injured over 800 people. The bench, comprising Justices M. M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh, also issued notices to the 12 acquitted individuals, seeking their response to the Maharashtra government’s appeal challenging the High Court’s ruling.
The top court clarified that while the High Court judgment stands stayed, the accused who were released following the acquittal will not be sent back to jail for now. The verdict from the Bombay High Court had shocked many across the legal and political spectrum, as it completely overturned a 2015 decision by the special MCOCA court that had convicted the 12 men—five of whom were given the death penalty and seven sentenced to life imprisonment. One of the death-row convicts had died in prison in 2021.
Delivering the controversial acquittal on July 22, a division bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak observed that the prosecution had failed to present conclusive and credible evidence linking the accused to the crime. The court had remarked that it was “hard to believe” the accused actually committed the bombings and stated that the case was riddled with gaps and inconsistencies. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) quickly filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, arguing that the High Court had disregarded key evidence and undermined the foundational investigation into one of India’s most devastating terror attacks.
The ATS maintained that the accused were affiliated with the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and had conspired with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives to execute the bombings. The 2006 attack targeted Mumbai’s crowded Western Railway first-class compartments, with bombs exploding within an 11-minute span at stations including Matunga Road, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Khar, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar, and Borivali. Pressure cooker bombs, filled with RDX, had been planted inside the coaches.
