2006 Mumbai Train Blast Case: Bombay High Court acquits 12 accused sentenced to death and life imprisonment

2006 Mumbai Train Blast Case: Bombay High Court on Monday pronounced its verdict in the case of serial bomb blasts in Mumbai local trains in the year 2006. In this case, 12 accused have been acquitted by the court. The court has ordered their release from jail.

The court has acquitted all the 12 accused convicted by the special TADA court. Out of these, 5 were sentenced to death and 7 were sentenced to life imprisonment. The High Court has declared all the accused innocent and ordered their immediate release from jail.

This verdict has come after 19 years. The division bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice S. Chandak said in its verdict that the evidence presented by the prosecution had no solid basis. The court acquitted all the accused giving them the benefit of doubt.

The High Court not only accepted the appeal of the accused, but also rejected the petition of the state government, which demanded death penalty. This case is of 11 July 2006, when serial bomb blasts took place at seven different places in Mumbai local trains within just 11 minutes in the evening. 189 people lost their lives in these blasts and more than 827 people were injured. This incident shook the whole country.

A charge sheet was filed in this case in November 2006. After this, in 2015, the trial court convicted 12 accused, in which 5 were sentenced to death and 7 to life imprisonment.

After this, the accused filed an appeal in the High Court. The hearing of this case was completed in January 2025, and since then the court had reserved its decision. The accused lodged in Yerwada, Nashik, Amravati and Nagpur jails were produced in the court through video conferencing.