Mumbai Train Blast Update: The Bombay High Court cleared all 12 defendants found guilty by a lower court in the serial bombing case today, 19 years after the 2006 Mumbai train explosions killed 189 people and injured over 800 more. These 12 defendants were found guilty by a trial court in 2015, with five receiving death sentences and the rest receiving life sentences.

The high court bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak overturned the trial court’s ruling, stating that the prosecution “utterly failed” to prove the case against the accused. The bench firmly declared that the prosecution did not substantiate the charges and failed to establish the accused’s involvement in the crime. As a result, the bench quashed and set aside their conviction. The court ruled that the accused would be released from custody if they were not required in any other case. It granted them the “benefit of doubt” due to the prosecution’s inability to prove their guilt.

The judges also questioned the reliability of the witness statements, pointing out that no person can accurately recall a suspect 100 days after the explosions. The court noted that the maps, weapons, and explosives collected during the investigation appeared unrelated to the actual blasts. Furthermore, the court criticized the prosecution for failing to even identify the type of munitions used in the explosions.

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On July 11, 2006, within just eleven minutes, seven bomb explosions ripped through separate Mumbai local trains. The attackers used rigged pressure cookers to carry out the bombings and maximize the damage. The first explosion occurred at 6:24 p.m., during rush hour when people were returning from work, and the last one went off at 6:35 p.m. The perpetrators placed the explosive devices in first-class train carriages departing from Churchgate. The bombs detonated near Matunga Road, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar, and Borivali.

In 2015, a trial court found twelve individuals guilty in connection with the blasts. The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) special court sentenced Faisal Sheikh, Asif Khan, Kamal Ansari, Ehtesham Siddiqui, and Naveed Khan to death. The court sentenced seven others, Mohammed Sajid Ansari, Mohammed Ali, Dr. Tanveer Ansari, Majid Shafi, Muzzammil Shaikh, Sohail Shaikh, and Zamir Shaikh, to life imprisonment for their roles in the conspiracy. Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of acquitting all 12 convicted individuals, allowing them to walk free.

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