All 12 convicts in Mumbai 2006 train blasts acquitted

Blitz Bureau

NEW DELHI: The Bombay High Court on July 21 acquitted all 12 men who were convicted of the 2006 Mumbai train bombings that killed 189 people and injured over 800. Out of the 12, five convicts were on death row. The acquittal came nearly two decades after the serial blasts shook Mumbai’s suburban railway network.

A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak read out the operative part of the order, pointing out serious flaws in the prosecution’s case. The court observed that key witnesses were unreliable, identification parades were questionable, and confessional statements were extracted through torture.

“The defence had raised serious questions about the test identification parade. Many witnesses remained silent for unusually long periods, some over four years, and then suddenly identified the accused. This is abnormal,” the bench noted.

One witness, the court found, had deposed in multiple unrelated crime branch cases including the Ghatkopar blast case, making his testimony ‘unreliable’. Several others failed to explain how they could suddenly recall and identify the accused after years. The judges also highlighted procedural lapses. “Some witnesses were not even examined during the trial. As for recoveries like RDX and other explosive material, the prosecution could not establish that the evidence was sacrosanct until it reached the Forensic Science Laboratory,” the bench said.

Observing “non-application of mind”, the High Court concluded that the prosecution had thoroughly failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt

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