Education
22 Jul, 2025
David Hernandez
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 22, 2025) indicated its intention to list on July 24 a Maharashtra government appeal against aBombay High Court judgment acquitting all 12 convictsin the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts in 2006.
Making an oral mention before Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for Maharashtra, urged the court to list the case at the earliest.
Chief Justice Gavai asked if Thursday (July 24) would do, Mr. Mehta agreed.
The High Court had concluded the prosecution “utterly failed” to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt. It set aside the 2015 judgment of the Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court, which had awarded the death penalty to five and life imprisonment to seven others.
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“The prosecution has utterly failed in establishing the case beyond reasonable doubt. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence, their conviction is quashed and set aside… Punishing the actual perpetrator of a crime is a concrete and essential step toward curbing criminal activities, upholding the rule of law, and ensuring the safety and security of citizens. But creating a false appearance of having solved a case by presenting that the accused have been brought to justice gives a misleading sense of resolution,” the judgment had observed.
On July 11, 2006, a series of seven bomb blasts occurred in the first-class compartments of seven suburban local trains of Mumbai between 6:23 p.m. and 6:29 p.m. The coordinated explosions led to the tragic loss of 187 lives and left approximately 824 people injured.
judiciary (system of justice)/justice and rights/Maharashtra/Mumbai